















1 

































* 

J.i i 

TREATISE 


ON 

INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


EXPLAINING THE PRINCIPLES BY WHICH CANALS ANB 
THEIR APPENDAGES ARE LAID OUT, CONSTRUC¬ 
TED AND KEPT IN REPAIR, TOGETHER 
WITH OTHER INTERESTING AND 
USEFUL MATTERS CONNEC¬ 
TED WITH THE SUB¬ 
JECT ; 


COMPILED FROM THE LATEST AND MOST AP¬ 
PROVED AUTHORITIES : 


TO WHICH IS ANNEXED, 

THE 

REPORT OF ALBERT GALLATIN 

o* ■ 

7 y > 

ROADS AND CANALS , 



BALLS TON SPA: 

PRINTED BY U. F. DOUBLEDAY* 

1817. 









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SOTJTTIERX DISTRICT OF XFIT-YORK, ss. 

BE it remembered, that on the thirty first day of January, 
in the forty first year of the Independence of the United States 
cf America, JOSHUA SEC OH, of the said district, hath de¬ 
posited in this office the Title of a Book, the right whereof he 
claims as proprietor, in the words following, to wit: 

“ A Treaties on Internal Navigation. Explaining the princi¬ 
ples by which Canals and their appendages are laid out, con¬ 
structed and kept in repair; together with other interesting and 
useful matters connected w*ith the subject: Compiled from the 
latest and most approved authorities: To which is annexed, the 
Report of Albert Gallatin on roads and canals.’* 

In conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States, 
entitled “ An Act for the encouragement of Learning*, by se¬ 
curing the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books to the authors and 
proprietors cf such copies, during the time therein mentioned.*’ 
And also to an act, entitled “ An Act, supplementary to an Act, 
entitled an Act for the encouragement of Learning, by securing 
the copies of Maps, charts, and. Books to the authors and pro¬ 
prietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned, and 
extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing*, engrav¬ 
ing, and etching historical and other prints.” 

THERON RUDD, 
Clerk of the Southern District of 

Xeio-Yorkm 



ERRATA. 


Page. 

Line. 


4, 

3 Sc 4, from top, for countries 

read counties. 

28, 

7, - - tallee 

— taller. 

dd, 

10, from bottom, — stone-beach 

— stone-brach. 

/JO 

5, from top, — there 

— these. 

65, 

5, from bottom, — here 

— hence. 

84, 

11, from top, — emptying 

— empty. 

85, 

10, from bottom, — level 

— bevel. 

: 85, 

6, — levelled 

— bevelled. 

' 88, 

bottom, — rock 

— rack. 

95, 

2, from top, — line-fences 

— live-fences. 

148, 

14, from bottom, — water-gates 

— waste-g*ates. 

144,— 

—The following paragraph, which 

ought to have been 


inserted after the 2d paragraph of that page, was omitted by 
mistake of the printer: 

“ A canal 26 feet wide at top, and 10 feet at bottom, and 6 
feet deep, will require 12A acres of land per mile, and will be 12 
cubic yards for every yard run, which, if good earth, is a man’s 
day’s work, if not wheeled above 10 yards on each side; but if 
cut deeper or wheeled further, 1A per yard for 20 yards more.—* 

A camd 5 feet deep should contain £ feet depth of "water. 


PREFACE, 



HE subject of Internal Navigation by means of ca* 


x nals, has, for some time past, considerably occupi¬ 
ed the public attention, not only in the State of New- 
York, but in various other parts of the United States ; 
but so few, are the works of that kind, which have been 
executed in this country, that there are many otherwise 
well informed individuals, wh© possess very little knowl¬ 
edge of their utility, their construction, or their expense. 
Nor, is the means of such information, from books, with¬ 
in the reach of the common reader ; as the best trea¬ 
tise, it is believed, on the processor canal-making, writ¬ 
ten by Mr. T/iomas Telford, an eminent English engi¬ 
neer, is contained in Rees* Cyclopedia , a very volumin¬ 
ous work, the cost of which is between §200 and §300. 
These considerations seemed to call for a plain and prac¬ 
tical treatise, of trifling expense, from which, informa¬ 
tion, necessary to induce a correct estimate of this im¬ 
portant subject, might be derived. Not only with a de¬ 
sire of effecting this object, but in compliance also, with 
a request of the board of Canal Commissioners of the 
State of New-York, has the following compilation been 


made 


The reader of the following pages will bear in mind, 
that he is perusing the works of British authors, except 
where he is informed to the contrary ; and if he wish¬ 
es to learn, with what propriety and fidelity they have 
been selected, and transcribed, he has only to consult 
those writers to whose works references are made. 
The introductory remarks are principally selected from 
“ Inland Navigation” by J. Phillips ; tnat part of the 
work which relates to the process of canal-making is u 


IV 


PREFACE. 


bridged Irom the treatise of Mr. Thomas Telford above 
mentioned $ and the chapters on levelling and water-ce¬ 
ments from the appropriate articles in Rees' Cyclopedia 
the whole has been divided into chapters, merely lor the 
readers* convenience- It will be perceived.that several 
other authors than the above arc mentioned ; and a- 
mong the rest, that botn Mr Telford and Mr. Phillips 
have refeied to a work written by our lamented coun¬ 
tryman Robert Fulton , F&qr. 

Mr. Fulton went to Great Britain while a mere 
youth, and shortly thereafter (in 1796) wrote a volume 
on the subject of Inland N ligation, which is more fre¬ 
quently referred to; and treated with greater respect by 
the most eminent English eng it . ers. that «a, other 
work of the kind. Such was the intuitive iwf !iiy with 
which his active and comprehensive mind, embraced 
and elucidated the most complicated subjects ! And, in 
whatever estimation his opinions on the su ec.t of ca¬ 
nals, may be held by his countrymen, it ought to be 
know n, in honor to the mernoty of departed worth, that 
they are justly appreciated in Europe. 

The great vaiue of lands in England, for agricultural 
purposes, in consequence of the density of population ; 
the numerous parks, pleasure-grounds, fish-ponds, coun¬ 
try-seats, and other works of piide and luxury, with 
which that country abounds ; the paucity and smallness 
o Jthe streams of water, incident to an insular situation, 
and the occupancy of those streams, not only by the 
mftnber of mills and other hydraulic machines which 
such an abundant population requires, but by the nume¬ 
rous canals already in existence ;—these artificial oh- 
s! ructions added to the natural unevenness of the ground, 
which is greatly “ variegated with hill and dale/* ren¬ 
der the business of an English engineer, who has to 
surmount so many obstacles, in determining on the line 
of a canal, a most intricate and perplexing science. 
The laborious process of puddling and lining is adopted, 
to preserve, if possible, eveiy particle of water from 
escape ; and yet, with all these difficulties and expenses 
to encounter, so intent are the people of Great Britain 


PREFACE. 


V 


on multiplying canals, alter having experienced their 
beneficial effects, that to accomplish this effect, they 
not oi ly remove hills, tunnel through mountains, and 
make aerial passages across vallies, on aqueduct budg¬ 
es, at an elevation of more man one hundred feet in the 
air ; but they also construct them in places where there 
is a total deficiency oh water for lockage : and inclined- 
planes, and many other expedients are devised and a- 
dopted as substitutes for locks. 

As the Ur.it d States, Tnalmost every place that can 
be selected abounds in copious streams, amply sufficient 
for all the purposes of artificial navigation, it was deem¬ 
ed unnecessary to swell the following pages with an ac¬ 
count of the various substitutes' for locks or of rail¬ 
ways or tram-roads, a knowledge of the construction of 
which would probably be ur interesting to the American 
reader. 

On a comparison of the facilities for canal-making in 
G reat Britain and the United States, it is manifest that 
we possess superior advantages in many respects. 
Here, it is a simple process, reducible to a few plain 
rules, not,only within the comprehension, but the prac¬ 
tical execution of every man oi understanding. Here, 
we have ail the materials at a trifling expense ; lands 
are comparatively of little value, and inexhaustible cup- 
plies of water may be had for nothing, nor is there 
here, any “noblemen” or “gentlemen” whose veto 
could prevent a work of public utility from traversing 
their domains. 

The easy transportation of the materials for manu¬ 
factures is one reason, among others, why the British 
manufacturer can afford the products of his labor at so 
small a price ; and if the people ot the United States, 
by an unaccountable fatality, I had almost said fatuity, 
are to permit their manufactories to languish and ex¬ 
pire ; if they are to continue the mere “ growers” of 
the productions of the earth ; if they are destined, in 
perpetuity, to barter the luxuriant productions of their 
soil for the gewgaws of Europe, at not only an im¬ 
mense sacrifice, but with a continual balance again?*, 

* ' - 


vi 


PatFAClS, 


them, still they would find an incalculable advantage is$ 
the increased l'acili.ics which canals would afford for the 
transportation of their cumbrous and weighty raw ma¬ 
terials. 

It cannot escape observation that the price of labor in 
Great Britain is much less than in the United States, 
and of course that the excavation of canals will cost 
more here than in that country ; but the cost of excava¬ 
tion in the United States would not, however, exceed 
that cost in Great Britain in proportion to the excess of 
the price of labor. In England the earth is removed 
by manual labor ; and it is believed that with us, a 
plough and scraper, managed by four men, would exca¬ 
vate as many cubic yards of earth in a day, as twenty 
englishmen with spades and wheelbarrows. But sup¬ 
posing this to be an exaggeration or mistake, a mo¬ 
ment's reflection will teach us that the price of labor, 
whether one shilling or live dollars for a days’ work, 
cannot afford the least objection to the construction of 
canals; because, whatever may be that price, it is ne¬ 
cessarily combined with the transportation of every 
article of either domestic or foreign consumption. 

I he farmer, who resides 25, 50 or 100 miles inland, 
feels the severity of the tax imposed upon him by the 
price of labor. His salt, his iron, all his groceries, and 
indeed every article of foreign production comes to him 
charged with that price of labor which is incident to a 
tedious and expensive land carriage ; while on the otn- 
er hand, the avails of his own labor, or whatever he has 
to send to market suffers a proportionate diminution in 
its value : so that the price of labor whatever it may be, 
thus necessarily connected with transportation, operates 
to his disadvantage with a two-fold force ; being a con- 
tinu-d tax upon every-foreign article of his consump¬ 
tion, and an incessant draw-back upon all his surplus 
productions. 

In those counties where labor is cheap, the price of 
land cani ' e is proportionably low ; and the cheapness 
of transportation by land, might, with as much force and 
propriety, have been urged in Great Britain; against the. 


PREFACE 


\U 


construction of canals, as the high price of labor in thu 
United States against similar undertakings. We boast 
of our inventive powers, and pride ourselves upon the 
discovery and construction of labor-saving machines ; 
and yet we neglect to make canals* on wnich one day’s 
labor would, at least transport as much as ten on our or¬ 
dinary roads. 

When transportation on canals is contrasted with 
transportation on British roads and turnpikes, it should 
be remembered that the roads and turnpikes of that 
country are very different from purs; that they have 
been constructed for ages, in no place on an angle of 
but few degrees of elevation or descent, are besides al¬ 
most perfectly smooth, and formed of the most com¬ 
pact and imperishable materials. It is however unne¬ 
cessary to caution the intelligent reader that he is to 
make an application of the facts and principles contain¬ 
ed in the following page •, to the j-tate of bis own coun¬ 
try, so far as they are a amicable, and no further. 

The Middlesex canal is the largest work of the kind 
which has been executed in the United States, and it is 
presumed that the particulars respecting it which have 
been transcribed into the following pages will convey 
some useful information to those who may engage in 
canal making. 

Mr. Gallatin’s Report on Roads and Canals contains 
the best account that has been published, of all the 
works of that kind, which have either been executed 
or projected in the Udited States ; no apology, there¬ 
fore, can be necessary for having added it to the vol¬ 
ume. 

It was the original design of the compiler to have 
written several notes and illustrations in addition to the 
very few that are inserted ; but on reflection, he deem- 
it more respectful, to permit the intelligent reader, to 
make his own comments. 

Errors and mistakes, in the hurry of transcribing, 
may have crept into the following work ; and any indi¬ 
vidual by candidly pointing them out, will confer an ob¬ 
ligation on the COMPILER* 

January I4i{h } 1811T, 


" • .. , - 

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CONTENTS. 


?age* 

Introduction, - 1 

CHAP. I. 

Qualifications of an engineer. Exploring and lay¬ 
ing out a canal. Estimate of expense - 9 

CHAP II. 

Organization of the company. Appointment of a- 
gents, and of a resident engineer. Re ex mi na¬ 
tion of the line, and staking out the same. Le- 
Tel-cutting, deep-cutting and embankmer s con¬ 
sidered. Slope-holes and lock spit explained. 
Rules to be observed with respect to various in¬ 
clinations of the surface of the ground. Piepa- 
rations for excavation, - - - - 2i 

CHAP. III. 

Puddling and lining. Water tight stuff', porous 
stuff. Cases of puddling a&d lining. Descrip¬ 
tion of puddle and puddling-stuff Puddle-gut¬ 
ters desciibed, Formation of the lock-spit.— 
Letting of the work to contractors. Commence¬ 
ment of excavation. Reaching. Process of 
puddling, Water for puddling. Process of li¬ 
ning. Use of dirt-boats, - 31 

CHAP. IV. 

Reservoirs. Calculations of the quantity of water. 

Giuging springs and streams. Examination of 
the ground for a reservoir. Slope of the head. 
Laying out the head. Arch and well. Cock and 
pipe, for discharging the water. Syphon char- 


X 


CONTENTS. 


TAGE. 

ged with mercury. Gauge-puddle. Enumera¬ 
tion of the principal reservoirs. - 

CHAP. V. 

Feede!s. Construction of feeders. Gauging the 
quantity of water. Knowledge of the strata.— 
Sinking the summit level for a reservoir. Con¬ 
siderations thereon. \queduots. Aqueduct 
bridges. Their form and construction. Cast- 
iron aqueducts. Their construction according 
to R. Fulton. Stupendous aqueduct on Mr. 1 ul- 
ton’s plan over the river Dee. Enumeration of 
the principal aqueducts, ... 54 

CHAP. VI. 

Embankments. Precautions to prevent slips. Ar¬ 
ches for brooks or roads. Their construction.— 
Wing-walls. Embankment on the slope of a 
hill, the most considerable embankments enu¬ 
merated. Safety-gates. Their location and 
construction. Stop-gates. Stop-planks. Stop- 
bars, how made. Waste-gates. Trunks. Weirs. 
Tumbling-bayWeir-bridges. Well-falls.— 
Puddle-weirs. Fiood-gates. Culverts, manner 
of making them, - §2 

CHAP VII. 

Tunnels. Selection of a proper phee or a tun¬ 
nel. Heading or sough. Cross headings. Tun¬ 
nel-line, Tunnel-pits or shafts. Horse-gin or 
turn-beams. Transfer of the level. Centerings 
for the arch. Excavation. Templets. Parti¬ 
culars of the tunnel at Blisworth. Ftulridge 
tunnel. Enumeration of the principal tunnels, 7l> 

CHAP. VIII. 

Deep-cutting. Headings to drain off the water. 
Pumps or steam-engine for the same purpose, 
blips. Slopes of the banks. Laying out the 
work. Excavating machines. Principal deep- 
cuttings enumerated-. - • - - - 7 £ 


CONTENTS. 


XJ 


PAGE. 

CHAP. IX. 

Description of a lock or pound-lock and of its use. 
Chamber of the lock. Gates, paddles or doughs, 
breast of the lock. Construction of a lock. Dove¬ 
tail piles or pile-planks described. Sheeting.— 
Lock-si^l. Return-walls or wing-walls. Hollow 
quoins, crooked culverts. Weir or over-fall.— 
Description of the gates. Bumping-pieces.— 
Strapping posts. Coffer-dams. 83 

CHAP. X. 

Towing-path, ought to be on the lower side of the 
canal. Should not be used to cl l ive cattle on.— . 

Its height and breadth. Fencing a canal.— 
Swing-gates, cylinders or friction rollers. Re¬ 
pairing canal-s. Destruciion pf rats, moles and 
hurtful plants. Method of repairing a broken 
bank. Stopping leaks. Camp-sheeting. Clear¬ 
ing canal of sediment or deposit. - 93 

CHAP. XI. 

Draining, its various operations. Construction of 
boats; if to move fast, should not be one third as 
wide as the canal. Shape of the head. Fiat- 
headed and with rectangular ends ought not to 
be towed fast. Mules used on Bridgewater’s ca¬ 
nal. Rate of towing per hour. Remark and 
note respecting the weight which can be towed 
on a canal,.- 10® 

CHAP. XII. 

General management of a canal. Appointment of 
subordinate officers. Gauges. Canal regula¬ 
tions to he printed and put up. Offences, how 
noticed. Tonnage tables. Weighing-house.— 
Gauging and marking the tonnage ol boats. Ton¬ 
nage regulations. Kaisirg sunk boats. Regu¬ 
lations for the the management of boats, and fer 
passing the locks. Rates ot toll, - * 104 


CONTENTS, 


« r 

XJl 

PAGE, 

CHAP. XIII. 

Improvement of river navigations. Difficulties.— 
Variable state of the water. Diminution of 
streams on clearing and improving the country 
about their sources. Cause of such diminution. 
Counteracting cause. Running canals. SHe- 
cuis. Counter-drains. Sluices, opening*weirs. 

One on the Thames. Jetties, weir-hedges.— 
Improvements suggested by Mr. Teiford. Ex¬ 
penses and inconveniencies thereof. Cle ring 
out the bottom of rivers. Mr. Brindley’s opin¬ 
ion of rivers. - - - - - - 113 

* 

CHAP. XIV. 

Water-cements. Puzzolana. Tarras. Black ox¬ 
ide of iron. Iron ores. Woou-ashes. Com¬ 
pact basalt. Cendree de Tournay Loriot mor¬ 
tar. Note, on water cements. Black oxide of 
manganese. Materials in the United States. 123 

CHAP. XV. 

Spirit level with telescopic sights. Description 
thereof. Proving the same. Levelling staves. 
Table of difference between apparent and leal 
level, - - - - - - - 132 

CHAP. XVI. 

Estimate of expenses of three several canals and 
their appendages. Canals of Holland, their size. 
Expense of locks and inclined plane compared. 
Relative proportions of canals. Duy ? s work of 
excavation in cubic yards. Remark on the ca¬ 
nal from Cardiff to Merthir-Tidvil. 139 

CHAP. XVII. 

Miscellaneous particulars of information, respect¬ 
ing the Middlesex canal near Boston, in thestate 
of Massachusetts, 145 


INTRODUCTION, 


HAT the greatest advantages are derived by man* 



JL kind from navigation, which establishes an inter¬ 
course between all the different inhabitants of the earth, 
and enables them to supply their mutual wants ; by ex¬ 
changing their mutual productions, is a position which 
no one will dispute. To the improvements made in 
that most useful art, are the commercial nations of Eu¬ 
rope principally indebted for their superiority over the 
vest of the world in power and opulence, the consequence 
of their extensive trade,and the flourishing state of their 
manufactures. 

But what the ocean is to distant countries which it 
divides, navigable rivers and canals ar£ to the different 
provinces and districts of the same country ; and as na¬ 
vigation on the former produces an intercourse and mu¬ 
tual exchange of productions between different nations, 
in like manner inland navigation facilitates a communi¬ 
cation between, and consequently promotes trade and 
industry in the different parts of the same nation. It 
seems,indeed,almost unnecessary at present, toattempt 
to enumerate the great benefits that accrue to agricul¬ 
ture, commerce and manufactures from inland naviga¬ 
tion. There is scarcely any civilized people, either an¬ 
cient or modern, but have borne testimony to the utility 
of canals by executing works ot that kind. 

If we advert to fact, and consult the records of history 
with regard to the state of different nations, we shall 
find, that civilization and commerce have very much 
depended on t.,c facility with which the inhabitants of 
remote districts have maintained intercourse with cne 
another, as well as with distant countries. The nations 


B 


INTRODUCTION, 


5 

that appear to have been first civilized, were those that 
dwelt round the coast of the Mediterranean sea, which, 
from a variety of circumstances, was extremely favora¬ 
ble to the early nav igation of the world. Of all the coun¬ 
tries on the coast of the Mediterranean, Egypt seems 
to have been the first, in which either agriculture or 
Manufactures were cultivated and improved to any con¬ 
siderable degree. Upper Egypt extends itself no where 
but a few miles from the Nile, and in lower Egypt that 
great liver breaks itself into many different canals, 
which, aided by a small degree of art seem to have af¬ 
forded a communication by water carriage, not only be¬ 
tween all the large towns, but between all the conside¬ 
rable villages, and even to many farm-houses in the 
country j nearly in the same manner as the Rhine and 
the Muesp do in Holland at present. The extent or fa¬ 
cility of this inland navigation was probably one of the 
•principal causes of the early improvement of Egypt — 
i'he improvement in agriculture and manufactures 
>cems likewise to have been of very great antiquity in 
the provinces of Bengal in the East Indies, and in some 
of the eastern provinces of China. In Bengal the Gan¬ 
ges and r several other large rivers form a great number 
of navigable canals, in the same manner as the Nile 
decs in Egypt. The case is the same in the eastern 
provinces of China, where several large rivers form, by 
their different branches, a multitude of canals, and by 
communicating with one another afford an inland navi¬ 
gation much more extensive than that either of the Nile 
or the Ganges, or perhaps of both of them united.- It 
is remarkable, however, that neither the ancient Egyp¬ 
tians, nor the Indians, nor the Chinese, encouraged fo¬ 
reign commerce ; but they all seem to have derived 
their extraordinary opulence from an internal trade 
created by this inland navigation. On the other hand, 
those nations that have been destitute of the means of 
inland navigation, either by rivers or canals, have re¬ 
mained from one age to another in the same barbarous 
and uncivilized state. 1 his observation is exemplified 
in the state ot all the inland parts of Africa, and of that 


INTRODUCTION, 


n 


part of Asia which lies at any considerable distance north 
of the Euxine and Caspian sea, the ancient Scythia, and 
the modern Tartary and Siberia, 

The canal begun by the Duke of Bridgewater in 1759 
lias so evidently shewn the great advantages to be deri¬ 
ved from such works, and given birth to so many simi¬ 
lar projects, that since that time no less than 165 acts of 
Parliament have been passed for making and perfecting 
canals, or for improving the inland navigation of this 
country. 

Inland navigation is highly beneficial to trade and 
commerce, by facilitating the communication between 
widely distant parts of the kingdom, reducing the price 
of carriage, and thus enabling the manufacturer \o ob¬ 
tain his materials, fuel and necessaries of life at a lower 
rate ; to convey his goods to market at a less expense, 
and consequently to sell cheaper than his competitors. 
In countries which have the advantage of canals, old ma¬ 
nufactories are rendered more flourishing, and new ones 
established from day to day, in situations where, before, 
the land was but of little value, and but thinly inhabited. 
They render the countries through which they pass 
more rich and fertile ; since every meadow and pasture 
displays a verdure never seen in the withered and adust 
spots which are at a distance from the banks of rivers 
and running waters. The merchants who reside at the 
ports where they terminate must also derive very con¬ 
siderable advantages from them, as they are enabled to 
export greater quantities of goods from places at a dis¬ 
tance from the sea, and to supply with ease a greater 
extent of inland country with the commodities they im¬ 
port from foreign nations. 

There are, perhaps, few objects of internal policy 
that have so much called forth the powers and resources 
of the country as canals. They have not only been the 
means of enlarging our foreign commerce, but of giving 
birth to an internal trade, which, with all the advantages 
attendant on foreign commerce, has perhaps far exceed¬ 
ed it in extent, value, and importance. So g 'eat has 
been the effect which these canals, and the trade to 

J ■■ 


INTRODUCTION. 


■4 

which they have given birth, have had on our industry, 
population and resources, that in many instances they 
have entirely changed the appearance of the coun¬ 
tries through which they flow. 

The reasons of this change are sufficiently obvious. 
As consumers we are enabled by means of canals to im¬ 
port more cheaply ; as producers, we export with grea¬ 
ter facilitv.' Do the materials of a manufacture lie 
* 

dispersed ? Canals unite them, and at the same time 
supply the persons employed in it with every necessary 
at the cheapest rate ; and the land owner, whether we 
consider the produce of the soil or of the mines beneath 
it necessarily finds his advantage from new markets, 
and from having a cheaper carriage both for foreign ne¬ 
cessaries and his own productions. The experiment 
has now been made for some years,and canals have been 
cut to an extent of above 1000 miles and in most cases 
to the advantages of the public, even where they have 
not been profitable to the individuals concerned in them. 

To the cheapness of conveyance, compared with land 
carriage, should be added the advantages attendant on 
an easy and secure communication of the different parts 
of the country one with another, during the tempestu¬ 
ous months and in times of war ; no lives are lost by 
navigating the calm surface of a canal ; and merchan¬ 
dise may be imported and exported with perfect safety 
from boisterous weather or obtruding enemies. In 
short, if the abundance of fresh water rivers and lakes 
in a country have always been deemed a blessing, by 
furnishing a cheap and easy mode of intercommunica¬ 
tion to its inhabitants, there is no reason for supposing 
that artificial inland navigation is not in this respect 
equally beneficial. 

There are countries, in particular China and Holland, 
that have systematically encouraged canals and inland 
navigations at the public expense, neither of them 
wanting wealth, population or employment. Prince 
has not been deficient in public undertakings of a simi¬ 
lar nature In England the zeal of individuals has had 
a public sanction ; but the undertakings have been con- 


INTRODUCTION. 


6 

ducted at private expense. We build palaces for our 
public officers, and lavish immense sums in warlike 
preparations, more frequently actuated bv caprice and 
passion, than guided by our true interests ; but we do 
not sufficiently cultivate those projects which would 
tend to cherish industry, to produce wealth, and increase 
real national strength. A time may come when the ge¬ 
neral system of all governments may be directed more 
to the encouragement of such public undertakings as 
may promote population and the real prosperity and 
happiness of the country, than to the despicable in¬ 
trigues and destructive ambi ion of statesmen. 

A highway, a bridge, or a canal may in most cases be 
made and maintained by a small toll upon carriages 
which make use of them ; a harbor, by a moderate 
port duty upon the tonnage of shipping which load and 
unload in it. When the carriages which pass over a 
highway or a bridge, and the lighters and barges which 
pass on a navigable canal pay toll in proportion to their 
weight 01 tonnage, they pay for maintaining those pub¬ 
lic works in proportion to the wear and tear vvnicii they 
occasion. 

A more equitable way of maintaining such works 
cannot be found; for the tax or toll, though advanc'd 
by the carrier, isfirtalh paid by the consumer, to whom 
it is charged in the price of his goods. Canals, roads 
and bridges consequently must be made where there 
is a trade to support them. In several p irts of Europe, 
the toll or lock-duties of a canal is the propert y of some 
private person, whose interest obliges aim to keep it 
in proper repair ; if not, the navigation ceases, and 
with it his profit : his principal as well as his interest 
is therefore at stake There is this cliff, fence between 
a highway and a canal, the highway, if neglected, ui 1 
suffered to fall to decay, is not entirely impassable, 
whereas a canal is. When a navigable canal has been 
once made, the management of it becomes quite simple 
and easy ; and with respect to the making, it is reduci¬ 
ble to strict rules and method. With proper care and 
attention its expense may be foretold with as much ac- 

d 3 


INTRODUCTION, 


s 

curacy as the expense of any work of equal magnitude % 
it may be contracted for at so much per mile and per 
lock : such undertakings, therefore, may be, and fre¬ 
quently are, very successfully managed by joint stock 
companies. 

Good roads, canah, and navigable rivers, by dimin¬ 
ishing the expense of carriage, put the remote parts of 
a country more upon a level with those in the neighbor¬ 
hood of large towns ; they are on that account the 
greatest of a’l improvements. They encourage the 
cultivation of remote parts, which must always be the 
mo3t expensive circle of the country, and thereby the 
value of lands is much improved. They are advan¬ 
tageous to Towns by breaking up the monopoly of the 
Country in their vicinity ; and they are advantageous to 
all parts of the country ; for though they introduce 
some rival commodities, they open new markets for 
their produce. 

It is not more than 70 years ago that some of tlve 
counties in the neighborhood of London petitioned 
parliament against the extension of turnpike roads into 
the remoter counties, because those remoter counties, 
it was pretended, from the cheapness of labor, would 
be able to sell hay and corn cheaper in the London 
markets than themselves, and would thereby reduce 
their rents, or ruin their cultivation. Their rents, how¬ 
ever, have risen, and their cultivation has been improv¬ 
ed since that time. 

All canals may be considered as so many roads of a 
certain kind, on which one horse will draw as much as 
thirty horses on ordinary turnpike roads, or on which 
one man alone will transport as many goods as three 
men and eighteen horses usually do on common roads. 
Thq public would be great gainers were they to lay out 
on the making every mile of a canal twenty times as 
much as they expend upon a mile of turnpike road ; 
but a mile of canal is often made at a less expense than 
ihe mile of turnpike, consequently there is a great in¬ 
ducement to multiply the number of canals. 


INTRODUCTION. 


7 


The cities, towns, and villages in Holland have such 
a com.minication with each other by water, that they 
appear like streets of the same city in respect to the 
convenience of carriage ; and from every town ol any 
size, at fixed times, passage-boats go from and to the 
neighboring towns, conveying passengers and goods at 
cheap rates, and not less certain than our stage coaches. 
Till these advantages are adopted on our English ca¬ 
nals, I shall not consider all tiie benefits to be received 
from them, which may be reasonably expected. The 
cheap and very pleasant conveyance by the Dutch 
Trackskuyts are mentioned with satisfaction by all 
travellers in that country ; in general the canals of Eng- 
1 nd piss through a country far more pleasant and more 
varied vith hill an! dale; the conveyance would be 
safe, and the voyage, if I may so term it, would, in the 
summer season, be enchanting, enjoying motion with¬ 
out fatigue, and all-the pleasures of travelling at a very 
small expense. 

Bad roads, and a difficulty of communication between 
places remote from each other, occasion a kind of ste- 
rili y in a country, and render most things much dearer 
and scarcer than they would otherwise be ; and a nation 
placed in the most favorable climate, and blessed with 
the most fertile soil, if it have bad roads and be without 
the Convenient modes of conveyance, will not be so rich 
and affi lent as one less favored in climate and soil, 
which shall have excellent roads and canals, supposing 
the genius and industry of both nations to be the same. 

Were we to make the supposition of two states, the 
one having all its cities, towns, and villages upon navi¬ 
gable rivers and caaals that have an easy communica¬ 
tion with each other, the other possessing only the com¬ 
mon conveyance of land carriage, and supposing at the 
same time both states to be equal as to soil, climate and 
industry ; commodities and manufactures in the former 
state might be expected 30 per cent, cheaper than in 
the latter, or in other words, the first state would be a 
third richer and more affluent than the second. This 


8 


INTRODUCTION. 


perhaps is one of the chief causes of the great wealth 
of China, which historians tell us is wholly intersected 
by navigable rivers and canals. 






INTERNAL 


NAVIGATION. 


, CHAP. I. 

QUALIFICATIONS OF AN ENGINEER. EXPLORING ANM 
LAVING OUT A CANAL. ESTIMATE OF EXPENSE. 

W HEN it is proposed to form any canal, the choice 
of a skilful and experienced engineer is an ob¬ 
ject of primary consideration. Without due attention 
to this object, many impracticable projects may be adop¬ 
ted and large sums of money may be expended without 
accomplishing any important and useful purpose, in 
suggesting tlie principal qualifications that are necessa¬ 
ry for rendering persons competent to be consulted or 
employed in undertakings of this kind, we shall merely 
specify some of those that have in an eminent degree 
distinguished, or that still no levs conspicuously distin¬ 
guish several of our own countrymen. A skilful engi¬ 
neer should undoubtedly possess a considerable degree 
of mathematical knowledge. Calculations, of which 
some are of the most abstru e and laborious kind, will 
frequently occur ; and he should therefore, be well ac¬ 
quainted with the principles on which all calculations 
are founded, and by which they are to be rightly applied 
in practice. An engineer should also have studied the 
elements of most or ail of the sciences, immediately con¬ 
nected with his profession ; and he should particularly 
excel in an acquaintance with the various branches of 
mechanics, both theoretical and practical His knowl¬ 
edge should comprehend whatever has been written or 


10 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


done by other engineers, and he should have information 
in every department of his office from an accurate exa¬ 
mination o! tiie most considerable works that have been 
executed in all the various circumstances that are likely 
to occur It is necessary, that he should he a ready and 
correct, if not a finished, draughtsman. He should al¬ 
so be conversant with the general principles of trade 
and commerce; with the various operations and im¬ 
provements in agriculture ; with the interests and con¬ 
nection of the different owners and occupiers of iand, 
houses, mills, See.; and with all the general laws and 
decisions of courts, pertaining to the objects connected 
with his profession. 

By an extensive acquaintance with the disposition, 
inclination, and thickness of the various strata of matter, 
which compose the soil or land of the British islands, 
he will be able to avoid many errors incident to those 
who are destitute of this knowledge, and to have the 
course and causes of springs, to which it leads. As the 
last, though not the least, of these qualifications of an 
engineer, which we shall enumerate, we shall add, that 
fee should be a man of strict integrity. If, at this day, 
the affairs of any canil company should be entrusted to 
a person deficient in all or the greater part of the quali¬ 
fications above enumerated, the managers of such a corn- 
pan) will thus incur a serious responsibility to the pro¬ 
prietors and to the public. 

A proper engineer being fixed upon, the adventurers 
should not tie him down too closely by restrictions as to 
time, but allow him leisure to consider, digest, and re¬ 
vise again and again, the different projects and ways, 
which will naturally in most instances present them¬ 
selves to him in an extensive and thorough investiga¬ 
tion. The engineer should be allowed to chuse and 
employ the most competent assistants, and to call in and 
occasionally to consult the opinions of eminent or prac¬ 
tical men, us land surveyors, agents of the neighboring 
landed property, the principal and most expert cornmer- 
ci.,1 men of the district, and who are the best acquainted 
with Us trade aud wants, any eminent miners, &c. &c.» 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


11 


and such men the engineer should be authorised liberal¬ 
ly, and at once to remunerate for their services and in- 
te Iligence. 

Previous to the beginning of any minute survey or 
system of levelling, the engineer ought to visit personal¬ 
ly, and endeavor to make a just estimate, and preserve 
memorandums of all the objects within the district uo- 
der consideration ; as of the trade and importance of ad 
the towns likely to be affected by the undertaking, of all 
mines of coal, iron, See. quarries of lime stone, free 
stone, slate, See. or the situation where such can be found, 
of ail manufactories of heavy and cumbrous goods, and 
other extensive works ; and generally of every thing 
likely to furnish tonnage for a canal. 

By this time, if the district under consideration be of 
very considerable length, more than one, and perhaps 
sever d, different rou es for the proposed canal have 
presented themselves; and it will be proper, while the 
engineer^ assistants are carrying levels (using good 
spirit levels with telescopic rights) along each, and ma¬ 
king rough sections of the ground, or brook or river a- 
long each line, himself to visit and pass along each of 
these, noting and weighing more particularly the prin¬ 
cipal difficulties which present themselves in each route, 
as summits or hills to be passed, or tunnelled through, 
vallies to be embanked across, with aqueducts over riv¬ 
ers or bro«ks, the greater or less plentiful supply of 
water, particularly at the summit levels, and how far 
the springs and streams of water are at present appro¬ 
priated or essential to mills or gentlemen’s pleasurable 
purposes, or to irrigation, or the land occupied by parks, 
turnpike roads, &c. The advantages of each route 
should also be as carefully noted ; as the shortness of 
distance, connection with great towns, mines and works 
either on he line or by short and practicable side cuts 
or branches, the smallest number of locks, bridges, cul¬ 
verts, &c. In weighing all t esc circumstances, in or¬ 
der to determine on the most advisable line, it should 
never be lost sight of, that a canal is altogether a mer¬ 
cantile speculation, and cheapness of conveyance is the 
grand desideratum thereof: where, therefore, out few, 


l*v 

•4 ** 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


if any, great, towns, works, or mines are found upon a 
proposed line, and the principal object is to forma con¬ 
nection between the canals of a district more fortunate¬ 
ly circumstanced in these respects, and the metropolis, 
or a great town, as in the case of the G^and Junction 
canal lately completed, it is evident, that much ought 
to be done to obtain the shortest route that is practica¬ 
ble : if, on the contrary, the district under considera¬ 
tion has great towns, mines of coal, or great works dis¬ 
tributed about it, some miles in the total distance may 
be properly allowed, and a more circuitous route adopt¬ 
ed, to embrace as many as possible of these objects. 

Before determining upon tie rou e of a canal, its 
connection with the neighboring canals or river naviga¬ 
tions should be well considered, and the engineer 
should inform himself accurately of the quantum of 
benefit or injury likely to result to each of such exist¬ 
ing navigations by the effectiug of the new one, or how 
far their rivalship, or that of any other scheme which 
may at the time be in agitation, is likely to affect the 
one he is employed upon ; in all the practicable routes, 
which present themselves for the new canal. 

The most eligible route for the canal being settled in 
the engineer’s mind, he will then proceed to make a 
rough calculation of the quantity of goods of each dif¬ 
ferent kind, which may he expected to pass upon the 
line in a given time ; he will also examine all the canals 
and rivers which the proposed canal is to connect with, 
and ascertain the widths and depths thereof, the sizes 
of their locks, and of the vessels usually navigating 
them. 

In the particular survey of the line proposed, all the 
knowledge of the most expert and competent engi¬ 
neers, with the most able assist mts, will be requisite* 
The rough section of the proposed lire, before taken, 
will enable the engineer to see the places tjf the heights 
and breadths of the Vui ious summits, or ranges of high 
land that are to be passed, and whether any two or 
more adjacent ones can he connected by a.long summit 
level, without deserting any considerable town or point 
\ 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


IS 


el trade, which will diminish the- difficulties of supply¬ 
ing the canal with water, as every such junction of sum¬ 
mits preserves the water of two lockages, besides pre¬ 
senting so many more points at which the canal can be 
supplied with water, from springs and rivulets above its 
level, or where, in less favorable situations, the same 
can be collected in a lower level to be pumped up. The 
extremities of the principal summit or summits being 
thus nearly settled, it will next be inquired, bow far it is 
practicable and advisable to reduce the height of the 
same by deep-cutting or by tunnelling, or both of them. 
The advisable height of the summit level of the canal 
being settled, if water is notin sufficient plenty, a mi¬ 
nute survey of both sides of the range, or ridge which 
is to be passed and of dll its connecting heights, for a 
considerable distance on each side of the line, should be 
made by tracing the proposed summit-level along the 
sides of the hills, particularly noting all the springs or 
rivulets which rise above or across this line ; and all 
such streams of water should be accurately guaged, and 
the quantity of water which they discharge per day de¬ 
termined ; the same should also be done for all the ri¬ 
vulets or small streams that cross the line of the canal 
throughout its course ; and these experiments should be 
made not only where the streams cross the line, or 
levels, but at a considerable distance above and also be¬ 
low those points, the particulars of which experiments 
should be regularly and formally entered in a book, 
with all the attendant circumstances, and signed by the 
parties present at the making of them , as the same 
may prove of the most important use in future, either 
for detecting any secret leaks of the canal, or feeders 
by which any of these streams may be increased, or, in 
Cc.se of future claims being made for the water or the 
diminution thereof by mill-owners or others, the com¬ 
pany maybe prepared, either to make a just retribution, 
or to resist ill-founded or ignorant claims with effect. 
For calculating the quantity of w ater discharged through 
guages or apertures of different kinds and di mensions, 
theorems should be u-ed which make the necessary al~ 

c 


* 


54 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


lowance (deduced from experiment) for the form of the 
channels or apertures ; such will be found in Dr. 
Young's abstract of M. Eytelwcin's learned German 
work on Hydraulics, printed in the Journals of the Roy¬ 
al Institution, as also in Nicholson's Journal , 8 vo. iii. 
"25. The survey of the summit of which we were 
speaking, ought to be accompanied by a plan, on which 
should be laid down the exact course of every valley and 
range of hill above the level of the proposed summit, 
with every particular of the nature of the soil in each ; 
that in case reservoirs therein should be found necessa- 
jy to collect rain or spring water, the necessary extent 
and probable supply of such can readily be determined 
at a subsequent period. From one end of ihe proposed 
summit-level it will be right now to proceed with the 
survey, tracing the level accurately, and marking the 
same by pegs cr stakes, that will last for some time, and 
be known by the surveyor, who is to follow and make a 
yilun of the line ; the levels being frequently transferred 
u> what are called bench marks, upon the trunk of a 
tree, a large post or building, the same being noted so 
particularly in the field or survey-book, that they may 
be readily found for years afterwards. We suppose the 
engineers, by this time to have settled the rise that each 
took shall have, according to the dimensions adopted for 
the canal, the probable supply of water on the summit, 
and other circumstances; the summit-level will be tra¬ 
ced as above, till the proper place occurs for making a 
fall of two or more locks, at about one hundred yards or 
a little more from each other ; and the places of these 
falls being marked, the level is again to be pursued and 
traded horn the bottom of them, and marked out as be¬ 
fore, till the opportunity occurs for another pair or more 
of locks, or till some obstacle, as a gentleman’s park, 
houses, gardens, orchards, mills, roads, See. present 
themselves at a distance, when it will be proper, after 
referring the level arrived at, to a proper and perma¬ 
nent maik, to proceed forwards, and to examine and 
well consider the different ways and levels, if more 
than one of such present themselves by which the ob- 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


13 


stacle can be passed. From the most confined part of 
the course for the canal, owing to the obstacle, it wilt 
be right to level back, till the former work is met, and 
in many instances considerably overlapped in ordar to 
determine the most eligible mode of bringing the two 
levels together, upon the principles before stated, if 
they can be applied, either by adding another lock, or 
taking one from any of the sets of them which had been 
before marked out, as occasion may require, and mark¬ 
ing out the new levels thereby occasioned : the line be¬ 
tween the summit and the first obstacle, or confined 
part of the course, being thus adjusted, a new point of 
departure is to be taken from such obstacle, and the 
level pursued as before, till the fall for a pair or moie 
of locks can be gained, at the proper distance from each 
other. It is probable that but few sets of locks car. 
thus be determined upon before some new, and perhaps 
more formidable obstacle will present itself, which it 
will be necessary to break off for, and proceed for¬ 
wards to consider, and to obviate as before ; or the new 
difficulty may consist of some considerable lateral val¬ 
ley coming into the one w hich we arc supposed to be 
pursuing, which may occasion an insurmountable or 
unadvisable length of embankment and aqueducts ne¬ 
cessary in order to pass it; or some gentleman’s seat, 
mill or town, may be found so completely occupying the 
side of the valley down which the line was proceeding, 
that the engineer may find it necessary to go back and 
revise a great deal of what he had done, perhaps quite 
up to the summit, and perhaps to take a new course 
down the other, or opposite side of the valley, or at 
least to determine where, with the least expense of em¬ 
bankment and aqueducts, the valley can be crossed to 
gain the opposite side. The places of the different sets 
of locks, or of single ones, if they cannot be avoided, 
and the line between each being adjusted anew, we will 
suppose the work again to proceed, till some new ob¬ 
stacle presents itself ; this may be either a total change 
in the course of the valley that the line was pursuing, 
so as to render it necessary to begin to mount some oth- 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


16 

er valley toward a new summit; or some gentleman*s 
park, who is adverse to the measure, may so completely 
occupy the valley, clown which the engineer is intent 
still upon pursuing his course, that it maybe necessary 
to search out for the most eligible place for tunnelling 
through the hill into some : djacent valley, which is a- 
bout to fall into the main valley. 

It may happen, in case of a change of the direction 
of the valley, rendering it necessary to leave it, that 
some other valley, may be at no great distance, into 
which the canal must be conveyed by a tunnel ; and in 
in order to render this practicable, it may be necessary 
to go back, and conduct a good deaj of the line that had 
been done upon a new and much higher level, by omit¬ 
ting some of the locks, in order that the level maybe 
conducted through, and supply the proposed tunnel: in 
accomplishing this, the former obstacles may occur a- 
gain, or new and more formidable ones may be present¬ 
ed. In this way, the patience, perseverance and abili¬ 
ties of the engineer must be exercised, until a practica¬ 
ble line of some length is obtained, and staked out ; 
when the assistant land surveyor must follow, and make 
a correct and particular plan of the line of the several 
proposed locks, embankments, tunnels, kc. upon the 
same, and of the several fields or pieces of land through 
which it passes, or that come within 100 or 150 yards of 
it in any part. It wilf likewise be the business of the 
surveyor to ascertain, with the utmost care, the bounda¬ 
ry of every parish and township, what county each is in, 
the pro pernaruesof the owners and occupiers of every 
piece of land in each, however small, upon or within 
that distance of the line, with reference to the same up¬ 
on his plan ; and to describe correctly all public and 
private roads and paths that cross or intersect the line, 
and to and from what places they leavl; the course of 
all brooks or streams of water, and particularly such as 
lead to, and conti ibute to the supply of any mill: the 
situation of the houses and towns upon the line, or 
within some miles of it, should also be determined ; the 
nearer they are the greater accuracy will be nccessvy. 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


17 


We will now suppose the engineer proceeding with 
the line, from the end of a tunnel into a new valley, the. 
'course of which downwards is in the proper direction ; 
the same process is to be repeated as was pursued in 
descending from the first summit, until this new Valiev 
changes its direction, or until some great town or work 
has been reached, and it becomes necessary to change 
the course of the canal, and begin to ascend some new 
valley or plain towards u new summit, or towards some 
mine or work at which the canal is to terminate : to the 
new summit it will be necessary to proceed, and after 
settling the height of the summit-level, and taking all 
the preparatory steps for ascertaining the supply of wa¬ 
ter, and other circumstances of this summit, as descri- 
bed respecting the first, the levels will be traced from 
this summit downwards, working backwards or up tv- 
gain, as often as obstacles may render it necessary, un¬ 
til the former work in the valley is met, and a proper 
junction of idem connived: the whole of this part 
being adjusted, the surveyor may proceed as before 
with his plan and particulars: while we suppose the 
engineer returned to the first summit, and from whom 
he will conduct his line and avoid the obstacles thereon 
in the best way that his ingenuity can suggest, until he. 
arrives at the navigation or sea-port at which his can; ? 
is to terminate, and where basons or docks more or less 
capacious, according to the expected trade,and wharves, 
cranes and other conveniences may want planning for the 
accommodation of the traders and the public ; a:l 
which the surveyor will proceed to survey and plan as 
before mentioned. It may be necessary to remark, that 
every town, mine, or work, which happens to lie higher 
than ihe line, and to which a collateral cut is to be car¬ 
ried, must be considered as a separate summit, and pro¬ 
vision for supplying the lockage thereof must be made, 
and such of the examination before described gone into 
as may appear necessary ; such towns, 8cc. as lie below 
the line and are to have cuts or branches to them, will 
require water to be let down out of the line to supply 
their lockage ; on which accounts, it is highly dosim- 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION, 


18 

ble, whenever the same is practicable, to conduct the 
line upon such a level, that the collateral cuts may be 
upon the same level, by which the trade thereon is much 
facilitated, and less water required. 

A complete plan of the line, and all the projected col¬ 
lateral cuts, feeders, reservoirs, 8cc. being finished, the 
engineer will enter on a most careful revisal of the whole 
scheme, with his plan in his hand ; on which all the 
places where culverts or drains will be required, are to 
be marked, as also the proper places for the bridges, 
and the necessary alterations of the roads and paths, 
which will be cut off by the canal, so that the public may 
not be incommoded and turned long distances round a- 
bout, and still, that as few bridges as possible, and those 
in the least expensive places, maybe erected. In some 
instances new channels will require to he cm for brooks 
and water-courses, to a considerable extent, in order to 
save culverts, or bring them to the most desirable spots. 
For proper security against accidental errors, the whole 
of the levelling should now be gone over again, and the 
several bench marks compared, and renewed with the 
utmost care by the engineer’s assistants, while he is 
proceeding with the necessary inquiries and calculations, 
for an estimate of the whole expense of the undertaking. 

In a great number of instances, it wiil be found, that 
the supplying a canal with water, occasions no inconsi¬ 
derable share of the whole expense, either in the first 
cost of mills or streams of water, in land for, and labor in 
constructing reservoirs, engines to pump up water, See.; 
or annually ever afterwards, in the fuel for, and repair¬ 
ing of, engines, hire of water from mills in dry seasons, 
Ilc. ; this subject should, therefore, employ the most 
sedulous attention of the engineer, both to make the 
most economical use of what streams he finds, to pro¬ 
em e other supplies of water at the least expense, but 
above all, to secure an abundant supply. 

The dimensions and height of the locks, and breadth 
*f the canal being settled, an accurate calculation made 
of the quantity of water required to fill a lock ; and, 
-vrh the largest probable number of boats that will pass 




INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


19 


in a day, the quantity required daily in every part of the 
canal; this, with a due allowance for the evaporation, 
from the surface of the whole canal and its reservoirs, 
and for the soakage that will take place into the banks, 
however well they are constructed ; will shew the num¬ 
ber of locks full of water that will be required, from all 
the different sources. 

We have spoken of the steps proper to be taken for 
ascertaining the whole supply that can be had above the 
summit level; and it will often be necessary to make a 
similar investigation, on points below the level, and to 
construct reservoirs in such situations, to supply the ne¬ 
cessary lockage, for local trade upon the line, near any 
great town or works, which does not extend to the sum¬ 
mit, as also to supply the evaporation and soakage of long 
lengths, in situations where feeders or springs cannot be 
taken in by the way ; another use of reservoirs in less 
elevated situations may be, to compensate mills that are 
lower down the streams for the water that is taken for 
the use of the canal from the higher branches, or near 
the sources of such streams. 

We shall now return to the revisal of the survey, and 
making an estimate of the expense of the undertaking 
on which we supposed our engineer to be employed — 
In revising the survey of the line, it may be proper for 
the engineer to cause holes to be dug at certain distan¬ 
ces, as deep as the canal is to be cut, or deeper, to in¬ 
form himself more perfectly of the soil to be cut in, and 
the expense attending the same, noting particularly the 
height to which springs may rise in the several holes.— 
And here it may be proper to notice a very common er¬ 
ror, into which the persons entrusted to execute canals 
have fallen, in such parts where springs appeared be¬ 
neath the surface in the cutting, by concluding that the 
canal would make water, as they term it, in such parts, 
and that puddling was unnecessary; but vr here too often 
it has afterwards happened, that such springs, from 
having u variety of other vents or outlets, at or very near 
to the same level, and were, therefore, incapable of being 
dammed or raised much higher than they theft appear- 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


ed ; when the canal has come to be filled with water tty 
a higher level, the course of such springs has been re¬ 
versed, and the porous strata through which they passed 
have served to absorb and discharge the water at other 
places, to a very fatal extent. Land-springs, o r such as 
run only in winter, have generally the same effect, and 
in summer as copiously take in water, when their o wn 
source fails, as they before discharged it. The difficul¬ 
ty of puddling or lining out springs, on account of the 
powerful effort they make to force their way through 
the lining, as long as the canal remains empty at first of 
wafer, will induce a careful engineer, to endeavor to a- 
void, if practicable, all springs that will not at all times 
rise to a higner level than the water is to stand in his 
canal. It will be part of the business of this revisul of 
the line, to examine what can be done to straighten the 
canal, we mean as to sudden bends, by small lengths of 
deep cutting, and others of embankment, to correct the 
plan accordingly, and to estimate the extra expense of 
all such works. The lengths and solid contents of the 
several embankments in cubic yards or feet, and the dis¬ 
tance from which the stuff or soil must be fetched for 
the same ; the lengths and dimensions in like manner 
of all the deep cuttings, and t^he distance to which the 
stuff must be removed ; the lengths of the tunnels, the 
number and depths of the several shafts or tunnel-pits 
that will he necessary : the lengths of headings or soughs 
that will be wanted to drain the tunnelling works, these, 
and all the great variety of other works, as locks, cul¬ 
verts, aqueducts, towingpaths, bridges, reservoirs, ko, 
&c. some of which we have already mentioned, and o- 
thers that we shall mention hereafter, ought to be par¬ 
ticularly stated, and prices affixed to each species of 
work and kind of material; and these prices ought by 
no means to be below the current prices of the best arti¬ 
cles of the kind at the time, but due allowance should also 
be made for the advance of prices, which will take place 
during the execution of the work. The total probable 
expense, with a due allowance for comingencies, being 
thus obtained, the engineer will prepare his general 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


Si 

report and estimate, to be laid, with the plan, before his 
employers. 

The next step in the progress of this business, is an 
application to the legislature for an act, containing all 
the clauses applicable to that particular case, empower¬ 
ing the parties concerned to complete their undertaking. 


CHAP. II. 

ORGANIZATION OF THE COMPANY APPO INrMRNT OF 
AGENTS, AND CF A RESIDENT ENGINEER. RE-EX A* 
minaTion of The line , and staking out the 
SAME. LEVEL-CUTTING , DEEP-CUTTING AND EM¬ 
BANKMENTS CONSIDERED. SLOPE-HOLES AND LOCK- 
SPIT EXPLAINED. RULES TO BE OBSERVED IVlTll 
RESPECT TG VARIOUS INCLINATIONS OF THE SURFACE 
OF THE GROUND. PREPARATIONS FOR EXCAVATION. 

W E are now to suppose that the act of incorpora¬ 
tion has passed, that the adventurers are orga¬ 
nized and that a committee is appointed to superintend 
the execution of the work and the concerns ol the com¬ 
pany. 

It will not often happen that the engineer can be spa¬ 
red from the prejection and superintendance of other 
great concerns, to attend to the cutting of the canal and 
erection of the several works, without the assistance of 
a resident engineer , or more than one, if the line be of 
considerable length, and distant parts of it are intended 
to be proceeded with at the same time ; and the com¬ 
mittee will do well to leave it to their engineer to re¬ 
commend all such assistant or resident engineers from 
among those who have been brought up or employed 
under him, or are well known and approved by him, for 
their mathematical knowledge and practical skill, expe¬ 
rience and attention in the several kinds of works that 


22 


internal navigation. 


are to he executed. The attention of the committee 
should be directed to the fixing upon some land survey¬ 
or and valuer of respectability and great practical knowl¬ 
edge, who has been used to and acquired address in the 
negotiation and settlement of purchases and exchanges 
of property of different kinds ; and if he has before been 
employed upon canals he will be so much the more fit. 
It may be well also for the committee to consider whe¬ 
ther any local committees or a select committee , may be 
necessary, to pay the more minute attention to, and to 
bring before them, the concerns of particular districts of 
the canal, and to serve other purposes. 

The engineer being now informed of the exact bounds 
within which the law has confined his operations, and of 
the several restrictions or alterations that may have been 
imposed or made since his former surveys, will, in all 
probability, find it necessary to look over the line and all 
the proposed works agtin, accompanied by the intended 
resident engineers ; and, in such revisal, it will be pro¬ 
per to divide the line of the canal, and the several woiks 
thereof, into the necessary number of parts, and to give 
concise and definite names to each, which names are to 
be used in future, in contracts and bills, fxc. of which 
distinct parts or divisions a separate account of the ex¬ 
penses should be strictly kept by the resident engineer, 
the overseers, or counters as they are generally called, 
(whom the engineer is also to recommend or employ 
upon the works) and by the office-clerks m a ledger, 
with proper heads for each length of canal, set of locks, 
tunnel, embankment, deep-cutting, reservoir, aqueduct 
or other great work, that may form a separate division ; 
such particular and divided accounts of the works will 
prove of the most essential service to the committee, 
and to all others concerned, by informing and maturing 
their judgment on the actual or probable expense of e- 
very different kind of work ; and will enable the com¬ 
mittee to account to the proprietors how great, and 
sometimes unavoidable, as well as unexpected, expen¬ 
ses may be incurred. 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


23 


The committee should now well consider and en¬ 
quire, whether any part of the line can be completed and 
opened to advantage, before the whole length can be 
got ready: and this being determined upon, the engi¬ 
neer should compare and consider, from the estimates 
and particulars that he possesses, the comparative length 
of time that every particular work upon the length in¬ 
tended to be hist completed will require; and in this 
order, or with a proportionate exertion and number of 
men, should the several works be entered upon. Im¬ 
mediately after the plan has been settled, preparations 
should be made for providing all necessary utensils and 
implements* 

The tunnels, deep-cuttings, embankments, or other 
great works that are first to be begun, (and the levels, 
widths, Sec. of which we suppose to be completely set¬ 
tled) should be now marked upon the ground, with the 
necessary allowance of width for the slopes, and the 
spoil-banks, which the engineer may judge right to re¬ 
main the permanent property of the company. 

The land surveyor will now proceed under the direc¬ 
tion of the committee and engineer, to make purchases 
and procure good titles for all the lands that may be wan¬ 
ted, and to make accurate maps and plans of the same. 

The ground for the necessary reservoirs, to supply the 
part of the line that is to be begun ought to be among 
the first that is marked out. including space for the head 
or new embankment that is to be made, and should be 
treated for and purchased by the surveyor, and conveyed 
as above mentioned. The ground whet eon the locks 
are to be built, or any wharfs or walled basons are to be 
made, should also be carefully ascertained by the engi¬ 
neer, and purchased in an early stage of the business, in 
order that tiie summer season may lie fully embraced, 
for the building of all ihe masonry and brick work. 

It has been found, by long experience, that the banks 
of canals against which the water is to lie, ought, in or¬ 
dinary soil.s or earth, to have their slopes so apportion¬ 
ed, that one foot in depth will give a horizontal base of 
one and a half Toot ; and to these, or some proportions 



.34 


internal navigation. 


mear them, rather above than below, (as slopes of one 
and a half to oi>,e are in general too small) will the width 
at top and bottom, and the depth of the intended canal 
probably be fixed by the engineer. It has also, by ex¬ 
perience, been found convenient and proper to make up 
the banks of canals one foot higher than the water is to 
stand in them. 

We are now to suppose the resident engineer to be 
proceeding with the setting out of the canal, being fur¬ 
nished with a map of the several fields through which 
it is to pass, the line that is provisionally settled for its 
course, but with liberty to deviate within certain limits 
therefrom, and with bench-marks which the engineer 
has left and described at certain distances, to regulate the 
lop water level, or height of the water in the intended 
canal ; and, as above observed, one fool higher will be 
the level of the top-bank, or height of the banks. 

It will be proper for this engineer, and we shall in fu¬ 
ture, for the sake of distinction, denominate the other 
the firinripal engineer , to trace the levels accurately of 
each pound or level reach of the canal, and to put in 
level-pegs or small stakes, at every two or three chains, 
more or less according as the ground is more or less un¬ 
dulating, as he proceeds ; wherever the canal is con¬ 
ducted along the side of a hill, as will happen in a great 
portion of its length, the level-pegs are not to be placed 
exactly along the line that the p incipul engineer has 
marked out, but cithei above or below that line, as the 
slope of the hill may occasion, exactly at that point in 
every place, where the level of the top bank, that is, 
one foot above the water line (traced by means of a 
good spirit-level, with telescopic sights) cuts or inter¬ 
sects the sin face of the hill 

In some places it will be found that the principal en¬ 
gineer lias drawn his line across the point of a hill, so as 
to occasion deeper cutting than usual, to avoid going 
round it; or, on the contrary, crossed a vale or low 
place, so as to require 'ess cutting or perhaps none at 
all, to avoid .taking a circuit up that vale to follow the 
level of the ground ; and if either of these deviations 



INTERNA!* NAVIGATION. 


'houkl be so considerable that the level-peg would fall 
more than two chains or thereabouts from the line, down 
or up the slope of the gound, the plan of having level- 
pegs upon the surface must be departed from, and holes 
should, in the first case, be dug, at proper distances in 
the line, and pegs put into the same with their tops to 
the right height ; or, in the second case, longer and 
stouter stakes should be used, particularly in the fences 
that are crossed by the line, or other places where they 
will not be liable to disturbance, and drove firm into the 
ground till their tops mark the right level. In tracing 
these levels, the engineer will refer to and compare his 
work with all the bench marks before desetibed, and at 
each end of a level or reach, will level up and down to 
the bench-marks of the reach above and below the one 
he ha^ been working at, and compare the same with the 
fall that the locks at each place are intended to have. 
And we recommend particularly to the engineer to be 
very punctual in entering minutely in Ids field-book the 
particulars and situations of the several ievehpegs, and 
to make one or more of the men who assist him in lev¬ 
elling, perfectly acquainted with the situations and dis¬ 
tinguishing marks of them, and frequently to cause 
them to be looked over and renewed; or continual re¬ 
petitions of considerable lengths of the work v/iil be ne¬ 
cessary, owing to the disturbance and loss of the pegs 
by the cultivation of the fields and treading of the cat¬ 
tle, or by the interference of idle and mischievous per¬ 
sons of tiie country. Too much cautioq cannot ulti¬ 
mately be taken, by frequent reference to the bench¬ 
marks, with due allowance for any accidental variation 
.that may have been discovered among them, and repe¬ 
titions of the levelling, to avoid those disgraceful blun¬ 
ders into which some loss cap tble and less careful en¬ 
gineers have fallen. 

We are now to consider, and we wish to have it dis¬ 
tinctly understood, that the great desideratum in canal 
digging is, that the stuff which is dug trom one part of 
the work, shall, with the least labor or distance of mov¬ 
ing, exactly supply or form the banks that are to N* 


26 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


raised in another ; so that the work may be completed 
with the least possible labor, and on its completion, no 
spoil-banks or heaps of useless soil shall remain, or a- 
ny ground be unnecessarily rendered useless by excava¬ 
tions or pits. 

Several cases will be found often to occur in cutting 
or forming a canal which will require an exercise of the 
mathematical knowledge of the engineer. One case, 
which frequently occurs is, in cutting along or across 
level meadows, and we were not so well able, when 
treating of the first survey or projection of a canal, as 
ive now are, to explain a limitation which ought to be 
attended to in all such level cutting, especially if of any 
considerable length, viz. that the height or level of the 
canal should be so contrived, that in any cross section, 
the sum of the areas of both banks shall just be equal 
to the part excavated or dug. 

It will readily be perceived that there are indeed oth¬ 
er cases of level cutting, occurring wherever the prin¬ 
cipal engineer has, in crossing a vale, or point of a hill, 
found it necessary to preserve his level above or below 
/hat would otherwise have been desirable. This is an 
exception to our rule in the first case, and it occurs in 
consequence of the elevation or depression of the 
ground at one or both ends of the level-cutting. The 
engineer will find abundant instances of this kind, in all 
their degrees, in which there will be cither a want of 
stuff, or a redundancy from the deep-cutting ; and the 
perfection of his skill will be shewn in so conducting 
the line, that every embankment shall have deep-cutting 
at both, or at least at on.' of its ends, to furnish the ex¬ 
tra stuff, with the least expense in moving it ; and in 
like manner, that every deep-cutting shall have em¬ 
bankments at one or both of its ends, to receiW the ex- 
.tra stuff. It is apparent that cases may occur wherein 
the canal is conducted along the side or slope of a hill, 
and where it is evident, that a proper choice of the situa¬ 
tion of the canal, higher up or lower down the bill, may 
occasion the two banks to be exactly equal to the ex¬ 
cavation ; in like manner, where the slope of the hill is 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


27 


so considerable as to admit of no upper bank, the lower 
bank may be equal to the cutting. It may also some¬ 
times happen on a considerable slope that embanking 
is required, in order to reach any particular object, or 
to preserve the most direct line ; or deep-cutting may, 
and often does occur, in sloping ground, but it is unne¬ 
cessary farther to multiply cases in order to delineate 
such varieties^ An attentive reader will find no diffv* 
culty, in tracing, in his mind, every possible variation, 
by considering the line or surface of the ground to va¬ 
ry in a!! degrees both of height and inclination, while 
the banks and canal remain fixed ; and from this consi¬ 
deration, it cannot fail of appearing, how essential an 
accurate knowledge of mathematics is to every engin¬ 
eer, in order that he may be able to make the variety of 
calculations which may be requisite. 

The investigation of theorems for the above purpos¬ 
es would lead us farther into the subject, than w'ouMs 
perhaps, be necessary, especially as no person ought in 
our opinion, to undertake the direction of such works, 
who is not only capable of using a theorem laid down 
by another, but of investigating and preparing rules fon 
every case that can occur or be wanting in his own prac¬ 
tice. We proceed, therefore, to advise the resident en¬ 
gineer, on being furnished with the dimensions that the 
canal and its banks are to have to calculate tables for 
readily finding the distance of the level-peg, from the 
middle of the canal, measured on the slope of the hill, 
let the hill slope with whatever angle it may ; or rather 
let the angle or depression of the slope below the hori¬ 
zontal, top-water line be what it may ; and this will be 
most conveniently expressed, not in degrees, but by the 
natural sines of the angle of depression ; because then 
if a measuring chain of 100 links be laid down at length, 
upon the slope of the ground, and the difference of the 
level of its two ends be taken in links, by the spirit lev¬ 
el, those will express the two first figures of the natur¬ 
al sines of the depression, which is quite as great ex¬ 
actness as such tables require. The engineer will now 
proceed to put in a stake opposite to each level-peg, at 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


ss 

the calculated distance down the slope, for the approxi¬ 
mate or supposed middle line of the canal. These 
stakes will seldom be found for any considerable dis¬ 
tance together, to range in a straight or in any other re¬ 
gular line, that will be proper for the canal : and a very 
difficult and nice part of the engineer’s duty is now to 
be performed, in staking out a newline, with a talleeor 
a quite different set of stakes from those formerly used, 
to avoid confusion ; this is culled staking the middle 
range of the canal. The requisites in this new line or 
range for the. centre of the cannl is, that it should us 
nearly coincide in every part v* jth the slake s that were 
last put in by calculation, as possible ; that, w here, in or¬ 
der to preserve a regular and handsome line, and avoid 
the auk ward, inconvenient and unmeaning crooks and 
bends, with which too many of our canals, and even 
some of the latest construction, are almost in every part 
disgraced, the line is conducted higher than the calcu¬ 
lated stakes for one or more stakes together, care must 
be taken that it shall quickly be conducted below others* 
so that the redundancy in cutting deeper into the hill in 
one place may be as exactly as possible balanced by a 
deficiency just by, owing to the line being conducted 
below the level-stakes. Besides the consideration a- 
hove., it will he the time now to es imatethe quantity of 
stuff that will be wanted to land up every bridge and 
lock, and to give extra thickness to the banks on which 
any toll-houses, ware-houses, or other buikllnga, are to 
be erected, or trade carried on. 

In narrow canals, or branches of that description, it 
will be necessary to provide for wider places at short 
intervals for boats to turn, and to lie in while others 
pass them ; considerable skill and care are requisite in 
the choice of proper places for such purpose : they 
ought to be so situate that boatmen can mutually sec 
each other approaching on narrow canals or branches 
and provide for passing, w ithout either of them having 
to drag their boat buck again to a passing-place, as too 
often happens ; at the same time, they ought to be chos¬ 
en, if possible, in such hollow or low places as will ah; 


internal navigation. 


24 


unit of widening-the canal without much extra expense. 
Another consideration is, the excavation of basons, 
docks, or wharves, from which stuff may accumulate, 
which ought to be used up, if possible, in embanking 
the line just by. Many canal companies have seen it 
their interest, on proper and timely application from 
land-owners, who were desirous of erecting wharves, to 
direct their engineer to calculate upon, and to excavate 
the additional width necessary for such purpose, at the 
company’s expense ; this and the extra or deep-cutting 
that there must always be, in the approach to a lock on 
the lower side, and of embanking on the same approach 
on the upper side, should always be well considered and 
accurately calculated ; and full and explicit memoran¬ 
dums ought to be entered in the engineer’s field-book 
at the time, describing where the stuff was calculated to 
be had for every embankment, and where the stuff is to 
be disposed of from every deep-cutting or extraordina¬ 
ry excavation. 

These memorandums will prove of the most impor¬ 
tant use in the revisul of the whole length of line or dis¬ 
trict that is about to be fixed ; as also, in contracting for 
and Idling of the work afterwards, by enabling the en¬ 
gineer, without fear of mistake, to point out wnich way 
every part of the stuff is to be thrown or wheeled, as 
fast as it is dug, and that no part of the same may want 
moving a second time, or any wide or gouty places he 
made to disfigure the canal for finding stuff; or,\what 
is often of more fatal consequence, the canal being dug 
deeper than usual for such purpose. 

After the line shall have been thus marked out with 
the utmost care, it will be prudent for the engineer to 
revise it again, and to make pretty accurate calculations 
of the quantity of stuff wanting, or to spare in particu¬ 
lar places ; in these kinds of calculations the engineer 
will find the most important aid in a ready use of the 
slide -rule ; and we beg here to mention that a gentle¬ 
man who has long distinguished himself by the various 
and important uses to which he has made the slide-rule 
subservient, has prepared a short but complete tract on 

b 2 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


i'u 

its application in the concerns of an engineer, which it 
is hoped that he will ere long publish. Perhaps, on the 
review of the line, the curves and bends thereon may 
in some cases be eased, and beauty and convenience may 
be more fully attained without much, or often any extra 
expense. 

It will be among the first works to dig out for the 
foundations of the locks, if they are not already in hand, 
and for the bridges, if the season of the year and supply 
of stones or brick and workmen will admit of their pro¬ 
ceeding immediately : the several drains or culverts 
that are to pass under the canal should also be dug out, 
and prepared for the masons or bricklayers, and the se¬ 
veral safety-gates, stop-planks, weirs, and other erec¬ 
tions which we shall notice more particularly hereafter. 

It may be proper here, to caution the engineer, that 
in case the pipes of any water-works, or that supply a i\y 
gentleman’s house, cross the line of the canal, such pipes 
should be laid at once, two or three feet beneath the 
bottom of the intended canal, with an easy descent and 
ascent therefrom, and the ground be made good again 
as soon as possible, both to prevent their being damaged 
in cutting the canal, and being exposed to frost, or to 
thieves, if of lead, by lying bare ; and in case such pipes 
are found old or decayed, new and durables ones of lead 
or cast iron should by all means be laid in the deep part 
und^r the canal. The top soil should be carefully re- 
xnoved ; and in order to determine readily and correctly 
the places of the slope-holes which are made on the 
sides of the canal to designate the width ol the ground 
that is to be excavated, (which width will always vary as 
the angle of the inclination of the line of the surface of 
the ground is more or less) the engineer will find it use¬ 
ful to calculate the difference, in length, between a ho¬ 
rizontal and an inclined line extending from the level- 
peg to the middle or to the opposite side of the canal 
and to form tables adopted to the various inclinations 
that may occur. Like tables for readily determining 
the limits of the banks that are to be raised on slopes or 
inclinations of all degrees that are likely to occur* might 
also be useful. 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


Before cutting out the lock-spit, or small trench be¬ 
tween the several slope-holes, as a guide to the mcr/ 
who are to dig, the engineer ought to cause holes to be 
dug in the line of the canal, near every second or third 
level-peg, or oftener, if the soil be variable, in order to 
prove the soil to a greater depth by two or three feet 
than the cutting of the canal is to extend ; and each of 
these the engineer ought carefully to inspect, in order 
to determine whether puddling or lining will be neces¬ 
sary ; and what will be the difficulties of digging, ow¬ 
ing to the hardness of the stuff*, or to water that must be 
pumped out, Sec.; all which circumstances, as well as 
the extra distance that any part of the stuff* will require 
to be moved, must be well considered before the work 
can be let to the contractors or hag-masters, as they are 
called. 



CHAP. III. 

PUDDLING AND LINING. IF A TER- TIG H T STUFF, 1 
NOUS STUFF. CASES OF PUDDLING AND LINING —- 
DESCRIPTION OF PUDDLE AND PUDDLING-STUFF . 
PUDDLE-GUTTERS DESCRIBED. FORMATION OF THE 
LOCK-SPIT. LETTING OF THE WORK TO CONTRACTORS, 
COMMENCEMENT OF EXCAVATION. REACHING. PRO¬ 
CESS OF PUDDLING. WdTER FOR PUDDLING. PRO¬ 
CESS OF LINING. USE OF DIRT-BOATS. 

T HE puddling or the lining • of a canal to make it hold 
water is a matter of the greatest importance, and 
we shall consider five cases that are likely to occur or 
present themselves in the search into the soil that is to 
be dug by sinking holes as before mentioaed. It may, 
however, be proper, here, to premise, that all soils which 
will hold water, and not let it soak or percolate freely 
through them, are called water-tight. The first case 


32 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


we suppose to be that in which the whole is clay, loam, 
or other water-tight stuff. Our second case is that in 
which the whole cutting will be in sand, gravel, loose or 
open rock, or any other matters that will let water easily 
through them, and which arc called porous soils or 
stuff. The third case we suppose to have a thin stra¬ 
tum of water-tight stuff on the surface, and then to have 
porous stuff, extending to a considerable depth below the 
intended bottom of the canal. The fourth case may 
have porous stuff near the surface, and water-tight stuff 
at the bottom of the canal. The fifth case is that where 
water-tight stuff appears on the surface, below this a 
stratum of porous stuff, but having again water-tight 
stuff* a short distance below the intended bottom of the 
canal. New raised banks in all cases, are always to be 
considered as porous stuff, as indeed they will always 
prove at first, and in a great portion of soils they would 
ever remain more or less so, unless either puddling or 
lining was applied ; and all ground that has been dug or 
disturbed must also be considered as porous. It should 
also be remarked that any kind of soil which is perfora¬ 
ted much by worms or other insects, should in canal 
digging be considered as porous stuff. 

Puddle is not, as some have attempted to describe it, 
a kind of thin earth mortar, spread on places intended 
to be secured, and suffered to become quite dry before 
another coat of it is applied ; but it is a mass of earth 
reduced to a semi-fluid state by working and chopping 
it over with a spade, while water, just in the proper 
quantity is applied, until the mass is rendered fiomogc- 
mous, and so much condensed, that water cannot after¬ 
wards pass through it, or but very slowly. The best 
puddling' stuff is rather a lightish loam, with a mixture 
of coarse sand or fine gravel in it; very strong clay is 
unfit for it, on account of the great quantity of water 
which it will hold, and which disposes it to shrink and 
crack as this escapes : vegetable mould or top-s@iI is 
very improper, on account of the roots and other mat¬ 
ters liable to decay and leave cavities in it, but more oh 
account of the tempiation that these afford to worms and 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


r* ^ 

*>v> 


moles to work into it, in search of their food. Where 
puddling stuff is not to be met with, containing a due 
mixture of sharp sand or rough small gravel stones, it 
is npt unusual to procure such to mix with tlie loam, to 
prevent moles and rats from working in it; but no 
atones larger than about the sixc of musket bullets ought 
to be admitted. That the principal operation of pud¬ 
dling consists in consolidating the mass is, we think, 
evident, from the great condensation that takes place — 
It is not an uncommon case, where a ditch is dug. appa¬ 
rently in firm soil, that though great quantities of water 
are added during the operation, yet the soil that has been 
dug out will not more then two thirds fill up the ditch 
again, when properly worked as puddle. It would 
seem also, that puddle, is rendered by that operation,, 
capable of holding a certain proportion of water with 
great obstinacy, and that it is more fit to hold titan trans¬ 
mit water. It is so far from being true, that puddle- 
ought to be suffered to get quite dry, that it entirely 
spoils when by exposure to the air it is too much dried 
and many canals which have remained unfilled with wa¬ 
ter during a summer, after their puddling or lining has- 
been done, have thereby become very leaky, owing to 
the cracks in the puddle-ditches and linings. One of 
the firstHires of an engineer-, when beginning to cut a 
canal, is to discover whether good puddling-stufF is hi 
plenty, and if it be not, it must be sought for and care¬ 
fully wheeled out or reserved, where any is found in the 
digging ; or perhaps procured at considerable distances 
from the line, and brought to it in carts. It has hap¬ 
pened in some stone-beach, or loose rocky soils, that all 
the puddling-stuff for several miles of the line, required 
to be brought to it; but even this expense, serious as it 
maybe, ought not to induce the copying of those, who 
have left miles of such banks without any puddling, and 
have made a winter canal, buf which no stream of wa¬ 
ter that is to be procured can keep full in the summer 
months. 

If we compare our first, fourth and fifth cases, we 
shall find in all of them a water-tight stratum as the ba~ 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


34 


sis ; and the best practice is, in these cases, to make a 
wall of puddle, called a puddle-ditch, or puddle gutter, 
within the bank of the canal ; these puddle-gutters are 
usually about three feet wide, and should be sunk about 
a foot into the water-tight stuff, on which they are al¬ 
ways to be begun ; and they should be carried up as the 
work proceeds, to the height of the top-water line, or a 
lew inches higher. They should also be carried up 
perpendicularly, so that the settling of the bank may not 
crack them by any lateral pressure. In order to secure 
them front) tne operation of frost and other disturbances, 
it will be best to make them so far within the bank, as, 
that, if continued up to the top thereof, they would be 
fct least a foot from that edge or extremity of the upper 
surface of the bank, .which is next to the canal. Our se¬ 
cond and third cases evidently will not admit of the a- 
bove mode, because we have here no water-tight stra¬ 
tum on which to begin a puddle-gutter as a bottom : in 
these cases, therefore, it is usual to apply a lining of 
puddle to the sides and bottom of the canal. The pro¬ 
cess of puddling and lining will occur more properly 
further on, as we proceed in describing the operations 
of digging and forming the canal. 

Alter the engineer shall have determined by a careful 


inspection of the soil, 


* *•.* ^ - 

. £ k/ L. i t 


:cieu, what part of 


the canal will require to he puddled, he will proceed to 
mark out the puddle-gutters by digging small holes or 
nicks as a guide to the laborers. Where lining is to be 
applied it will be proper that the canal should be dug 
five feet deeper than would otherwise be necessary ; 
and five additional feet must also be excavated from 
each of its sides : the engineer will therefore, in this 
case, proceed to designate, by proper slope-holes the 
two extremities of the part to be excavated. A skilful 
and very handy workman is now required to mark out 
the line upon the ground, called the lock-spit, between 
the slope holes, which we have supposed to be made at 
about two or three chains from each other, along both 
sides of the canal, exactly embracing the part that is to 
be dug. The workman begins, by laying down an^ 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


35 


stretching a strong line upon the ground, between two 
or more adjoining slope-holes, and if the canal is not to 
be straight in that part, with small pegs to give it the 
gradual and regular bend in every part that the canal is 
to have ; the workman then proceeds, holding his spade 
or grafting tool not upright, but always with the slope 
that the bank is to have, and strikes it successively into 
the ground dose to his line, until the whole length of 
the line is marked out; by this means if the ground 
has sudden undulations, or hollows, as continually hap¬ 
pens, owing to the ridges and furrows of cultivated 
lands, and other causes, yet a regular line is marked out 
upon the surface ; before the line is taken up, another 
laborer follows on the other side cf it, and strikes in his 
tool inclining the contrary way, by which a triangular 
sod or piece of earth is cut and thrown out. It is obvi¬ 
ous that this operation is to be pel formed on both sides 
of the canal. If neatness and regularity are consulted, 
the engineer will also, designate by proper marks the 
extremities or outsides of the banks. It may be proper, 
here to remark, that canals set out with the scientific 
precautions and care that we have recommended, will 
always have the proper quantity of stuff to allow for the 
settling of the banks, because the solid contents of the 
banks after they have become consolidated and compac¬ 
ted will always be equal to that space of'the canal which 
they occupied before excavation. It will not be amiss, 
to give the contractors a table or rule shewing, accord¬ 
ing to the elevation, what extra height a suddenly rai¬ 
sed bank ought to have, in order to allow for settling : 
and it is evideiat that the slopes of such banks must be 
steeper in the first instance, than they are intended ulti¬ 
mately to be. 

We may now suppose the engineer to proceed to the 
letting of the cutting of certain lengths of the canal to 
contractors or hag-masters, who will employ, under 
them a number of navigators as they are called, in dig¬ 
ging and puddling the canal. It is usual to let the work 
at a certain price per cubic yard of digging, and to pay 
for the puddling or lining either at a certain price per 


internal navigation. 


"16 

cubic yard, or per yard run of the canal. The engineer 
<3Ught to inform himself thoroughly of the difficulties and 
facilities which attend the work he is about to let, and 
co draw up a short but explicit contract to be signed by 
the contractors. We cannot but recommend ihat all 
contracts for material or large jobs of work, not only in 
cutting, but for the mason’s, and other works in parti¬ 
cular, should be submitted to the principal engineer for 
nis approbation, before they are signed or finaily con¬ 
cluded . The prices allowed ought to be fair and liberal, 
according to the circumstances, so that the contractor 
may have no pretence, on account of low prices, to 
slight his work, particularly the puddling ; and they 
ought in every instance to be strictly looked after, and 
made to undo and renew immediately, any work that 
shaH be found improperly performed. We recommend 
it to the engineer to keep a strict account, by means of 
ins overseers or counters, of all the men’s time that are 
employed upon the works ; distinguishing particularly 
the number upon each work, and whether employed by 
the day, under the company, or upon the work that is let 
to contractors. These particulars are most essential to¬ 
wards knowing, what money ought to be advanced to the 
contractor dm ing the progress of his job, and towards in¬ 
forming and maturing the judgment of the engineer, in 
the length of time that a certain number of men will be 
perfoiming any future work that he may have to direct ; 
and a calculation ought to be made in every instance of 
the number of days* work, and compared wiiii the contract 
price, by which alone a correct judgment can be form¬ 
ed of the proper prices at which work ought afterwards 
to be let, so that the laborers may receive proper wages, 
proportionate to their exertions, and the contractor be 
amply paid for his time, skill and superintendance ; and 
yet economy and the inteiest of the company be duly 
consulted. Harrows and wheeling-planks, horsing- 
blocks, and other implements, aie generally found by 
the company ; and it is usual to consider fr >m 20 to 25 
yards, to be a stage of wheeling, and a price per cubic 
yard to be fixed according to live number of stages that 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


3 7 


the soil is to be moved. Where this distance exceeds 
100 yards, it will not often be eligible to perform it by 
wheel-barrows ; and runs of planks with an easy de¬ 
scent, if the same is practicable, should be then laid for 
large two-wheelcd barrows, or trucks to be used there¬ 
on. 

The cutting of a canal being let, the work is usually 
commenced by a laborer on the lower side of the canal; 
and from the lock-spit he marks out a certain width to¬ 
wards the middle of the canal, such, that he can throw 
or cast the stuff as he digs it to the extremity of the 
bank, and so that the heap' may not obstruct the intended 
puddle-gutter. The side of his work at the lock-spit 
he must be careful to cut down with the proper slope of 
the bank ; while the opposite side is usually cut straight 
down, and tins work is continued until he comes to the 
bottom of the intended canal; and this space which his 
work occupies is called the “ reaching. : ” The same 
process is followed on the lower side of those parts of 
the canal that want lining ; except that the “ reaching,” 
in this case, is to be accommodated to the extra width 
and depth of excavation preparatory to lining as before 
mentioned,, and as there is no puddle-gutter to be provi¬ 
ded for, it will not be necessary to throw the stuff fur¬ 
ther, in this ca»e, than that it may lie without falling 
back into the work ; and it is usual, if the reaching will 
not be very deep to iay two or three rows of sods or 
sound spits of earth, with regularity in the face of the 
slope to form part of the bank, and to throw the other 
stuff over these. Reachings are also to be dug on the 
upper side of the canal, and *s much stuff is to be 
thrown out therefrom as the inclination of the surface 
of the ground or the height of the bunk to be raised may 
require. 

It is now time to commence the puddling ; and a la¬ 
borer begins by digging out the intended puddle-ditch 
to the bottom, If the soil dug oucis good puc!diing-stufT s 
he lays it along between the puddle-gutter and the < • ~ 
nal, if not he throws it at once hack along with the stuff 
dug out of the reaching. A careful examination of the 


$ 

35 INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 

face of the reaching or sloping bank of the canal, will 
shew to what depth the puddle-ditch ought to be dug 
in every part, to reach and intersect any faulty places, or 
veins of lighter soil, or worm, rat, or rsole-holes that 
may accidentally occuY in the bank. 

After the puddle-ditch is dug clean out to its proper 
depth, and this is a circumstance that the engineer or 
some careful overseer ought to look particularly to, a- 
bout 9 or 10 inches thereof is to be filled loosely up with 
puddling-stuff, either fiom that which conies out, or 
from the nearest heap in reserve, all large stones, sticks, 
straws, or other extraneous matters being carefully pick¬ 
ed out as the stuff is sprinkled in : by this time, unless 
the season is very dry, it is probable that some water 
will be collected in the bottom of the reaching, and this 
should be laded out with a scoop into the puddle ditch, 
m> ;;s to give the stuff therein a good wetting; if the 
puddle-stuff be of the stiffer kind, or was very dry, it 
v ih he right for the laborer to betake himself to some 
other part of the work, for two or three hours, in order 
to give the water time to soak through and pervade the 
whole mass, but perhaps giving his stuff another 
sprinkling of water in the interim ; he may then pro- 
• eed with the puddling ; and for this purpose he ought 
to be provided with a stout pair of puddling-boots, that 
keep out water; he begins at one end of the trench, 
and keeps chopping with his tool into the stuff and quite 
'‘rough it, giving his tool a lunging motion every time 
before it is withdrawn, so as to let the water into, and to 
stir every part of the puddling-stuff ; if more water is 
wanted, another laborer is set to lade it out of the reach¬ 
ing as before ; and thepuddler thus proceeds, chopping 
down at every inch or thereabouts as he slowly advan¬ 
ces, and trampling about at the same time as much as 
he can wyph his feet, which greatly assists the operation : 
when arrived at the end of the trench he turns round 
and repeals the same operation back, and so on, until 
evesy pail of the puddle is properly worked ; which is 
known by the tool going equally easy into it in every 

part, which it would not do if any dry lumps lemained, 

\ 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION* 


39 


and the whole being in a semi-fluid state ; giving the 
puddling-stuff just the due quantity of water is very 
essential to its working well, and this, experience will 
soon point out. 

Very great care and management will, in general, be 
required on the part of the engineer, to furnish water 
for puddling t it will often be necessary- to bring it in 
temporary trenches, perhaps across several fields from 
some mill-dam, large pond, or spring of water above 
the canal ; for which purpose, general powers ought to 
be given in the act, upon condition of levelling and 
making all such trenches good again as soon as possi¬ 
ble, and paying for the damage ; often times puddling- 
water is not to be had, without pumping it up, and con¬ 
veying considerable distances in troughs, of which great 
numbers will be required. It will very often be requi¬ 
site to convey the water across the canal in troughs to 
the different puddle-gutters, and plenty of trestles 
should be in readiness for supporting these troughs at 
the requisite heights. Considerable care will be ne¬ 
cessary to turn off the surplus water, into some chan¬ 
nel where it can run off without flooding the works; or 
to stop it at its source; this last ought always to be a- 
dopted, when the supply is not very plentiful, or the 
owner of the stream or pond might be injured by tak¬ 
ing a constant stream from him, during the progress of 
the work. The first or bottom course of puddle being 
properly worked as above, it should then be allowed to 
stand two or three days undisturbed, and without any 
more water being given to it; when it will be found 
sufficiently set, so that a man may step on it without 
sinking in ; it is then ready to receive a second course ; 
the first step is, to scrape off and remove any lumps of 
earth, stones, sticks or other matters that may have fall¬ 
en into the puddle-gutter; about 10 inches thick of 
puddling stuff is then to be lightly sprinkled into the 
ditch as before ; and water is to be applied either from 
the reaching or some other source ; some hours time 
is to be allowed for the stuff to soak, unless it be light 
loam, and moist at the time of putting it into the ditch ; 


40 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION* 


in such case the puddling may be begun almost imme¬ 
diately : care must be taken that the tool be made to 
penetrate a r.mall distance into the first course, so that 
the two layers may be properly incorporated. After 
this course is properly wetted and worked, it must stand 
the proper time to set as before, but by no means to get 
dry, otherwise it will be found full of cracks arid must 
be worked anew: and in case, owing to any temporary 
suspension of the work, it should be necessary to leave 
a puddle-ditch before it is finished, it ought always to ba 
covered and left with a dry or unworked course of pud¬ 
dle-stuff upon it, to keep the air from it and preserve 
the proper moisture in it. 

When a sufficient number of courses of puddle have 
been added, to fill up the puddle-ditch to the suu face of 
the ground, two or three rows or courses of sods, or 
spits of earth, must be laid on each side, to raise the 
ditch so much higher ; at the same time that the heap 
of stuff that had been thrown put of the reaching is 
levelled down to support the outside of the puddle-ditch, 
while the sods on the inside next to the canal are back¬ 
ed up by other stuff brought by the men who are wheel¬ 
ing from the bulk that had been 16ft in the middle of the 
canal. In like manner successive courses of sods and 
of puddle are to be added, the sods being backed up as 
before until the puddle i* carried up to the top-water 
line, or one or two inches higher; care being taken to 
lay spits of earth to form the slopes of the bank as the 
work proceeds upwards, particularly the inside slope 
which should be well trod and consolidated by strokes of 
the tool to prevent its falling down, or being disturbed 
by the water when the canal is filled. After the upper 
course of puddle is properly set, the bank is to be con¬ 
tinued, covering tne puddle completely with common 
stuff, until the intended height of the top bank is attain¬ 
ed, with proper allowance for settling ; and observing 
that the puddle will not settle near so much as the other 
stuff, if at all. The other bank of the canal and its pud¬ 
dle-ditch are to be carried up in the same manner. 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION, 


41 


The part of the canal with puddle-gutters of which 
we have been speaking, has, in general, a lump or ridge 
of stuff remaining in the middle of its bottom, until 
the very last: a different system must, however* be 
pursued with such parts as require to be lined ; here, 
the banks may be at once made up, and the whole of 
the bottom, down to the depth heretofore mentioned 
must be cleared, for certain distances before the lining 
of the bottom can be begun. A great deal of manage¬ 
ment is required by the overseer or contractor, to direct 
all these parts of their business, so that there is no hin¬ 
drance of any part of thd work, that every man is pro¬ 
vided with stuff by the wheelers, when he wants it to 
make up his banks, or to puddle, and that the parts to be 
lined are cleared in time. To accomplish all these ob¬ 
jects, a good part of the stuffcannot be wheeled directly 
out to the nearest or opposite points of the bank, but it 
must be worked forwards an i backwards obliquely, on 
the runs of wheeling planks, by tne wheelers, as occasion 
may require. It may often be necessary to exceed one 
or two, or perhaps more, stages of wheeling, to avoid 
taking out the stuff and clamping it, by whicti it would 
require filling ag in, damage would in most cases, be 
incurred in the adjoining lands, and frequently the pud¬ 
dling and working of the banks would be impeded, by 
crossing them to land tiie stuff. 

A length of the canal that is to be lined being clear¬ 
ed, and the bottom levelled and cleaned smooth down 
to the necessary depth, a course of puddling-stuff about 
10 or 12 inches in thickness is to be spread over it, 
with all the precautions to extract extraneous and hurt¬ 
ful matters, which have been before given, and the 
whole is to be wetted and allowed to soak if necessary* 
as before : the working of this puddle is now to be be¬ 
gun ; and as the extent will generally be large, several 
men may be employed, at once, upon it, • o as to make 
it worth while for an overseer employed by the compa¬ 
ny to attend them constantly to see that n> part of the 
\vo«*k is slighted ; as the bottom in this case.’ supposed 
to be loose rubble of a rock, sand, chui' u< "‘ i-or mat- 

E 2 


'c c-p/ 


42 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


ters, that would injure the puddle if mixed therewith} 
we have recommended a thicker course at first than is 
usual of puddiing-stuff, and in working the same the 
men ought not to strike their tools deeper or even quite 
so deep as the bottom of the puddling-stuff to avoid 
disturbing the bottom. When this course of puddle 
has been allowed to set, another, of about 9 inches is to 
be added, and treated as before, till about three feet of 
- puddle is added, if the soil is very porous ; and the top 
course being set, a course 18 inches or two feet thick 
of the common soil or stuff should be laid evenly upon 
it and levelled ; this covering of the puddle shouid be 
rather dry, and not in large lumps, or with great stones 
or sticks in it. 

The lining of the sides is now to be proceeded with as 
follows ; the covering which lies on the puddle should 
be removed for three feet in width next to each of the 
sloping banks, and the surface of the puddle be careful¬ 
ly cleared of dry lumps, stones, &c.; a thickness of nine 
inches of good puddling-stuff is now to belaid on the 
naked puddle, and wetted, and worked, and allowed to 
set, as before, when another course is to be added in 
like manner ; sods or spits are then to be brought from 
the common digging of the canal, and carefully piled up 
for two feet in width and about nine inches in height (to 
support the puddle,) hatching or inclining back before 
and behind, agreeable to the slope of the bank, the face 
of which they are to form, and leaving a space or puddle 
ditch behind, and the interstices between the sods should 
be filled with fine stuff to make the whole solid ; in this 
manner successive courses of puddle are to be added, 
supported by accumulated layers of sods as before until 
k reaches a iittle above the top^ water line, when the re¬ 
mainder of the bank may be formed of common stuff 
faced by compact courses of spits or sods. This last 
way of making a canal tight, by lining it, is the more 
tedious and expensive of the two; it is, however, gene¬ 
ral, and may be applied in the most loose, open, rocky 
arid pore "oils with perfect success. 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION, 4‘i 

In case it is found that there is stuff to spare aftei 
completing the banks, it may be disposed of by filling 
up the hollows above the upper bank so as to turn the 
water into the culverts that pass under the canal, or, if 
not wanted lor that purpose, it may be thrown into a 
heap or spoil-bank to be afterwards boated away as oc¬ 
casion may require. It must be evident however, that 
these re ources are inadequate to receive any great re¬ 
dundancy of stuff. A good resource to supply a defi¬ 
ciency of stuff' may be provided, by marking out a yard 
or two or more in width to be purchased on the upper 
side of deep cuttings, by which a great deal of stuff may 
be procured at a comp iratively small expense. Such 
means as above will ne sufficient where the canal has 
been laid out with the most scrupulous care : bungling, 
or careless can tl-niakers must be content to leave last¬ 
ing marks of their incap icily or folly behind them, in 
the many sudden bends into the hill that they are obli¬ 
ged to make to obtain stuff, and out of it to dispose of 
the same in other places, with numerous wider or deep¬ 
er places on the canal to make up the banks, or in enor- 
mousjspoil-banks or useless excavations. Where a re¬ 
serve of stuff has been made in the deep-cuttings at se¬ 
veral points on each level or reach of a canal, as above 
mentioned, it will be the better fault of the two, to expe¬ 
rience a deficiency of stuff; because, asasoon as the bot¬ 
tom of the canal has been cleared, and the lining of the 
bottom and sides for some height performed, or the 
puddle-ditches carried up, the canal may have 18 inch¬ 
es or 2 feet of water let into it, and dirt-boats may be 
used to carry stuff from the deep-cuttings to make up 
the banks in other places ; whereas all redundant or 
spare stuff must be got out before the bottom lining can 
be applied or any effectual use made of boats to move 
stuff from place to place ; and the same advantages will 
be experienced in situations where puddling-stuff is on¬ 
ly to be procured at particular points on the line, by 
clearin g out and completing the bottom part of the ca¬ 
nal for considerable lengths, so that dirt-boats may be 
used for bringing the same for the puddling or lining 


44 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


the upper part of the banks, which, if there is spare 
stuff, cannot be effected without heavy expenses in mo¬ 
ving the same and forming spoil-banks. 

Where the line of a canal is to cross an extensive stra¬ 
tum of valuable clay for brick making, or one of good 
gravel for making of roads, it will often be advisable, es¬ 
pecially if the line can be rendered more direct thereby, 
when setting out the canal, to cut pretty deep into such 
materials, and even quite through the gravel,if the same 
is practicable ; for although considerable expense will 
in the first instance be incurred in digging and in dam¬ 
age for spoil-banks, yet such materials, as good brick- 
earth and gravel, will in almost every instance find a 
market as soon as the canal is opened ; such a situation 
of the canal may prove of essential senri e to its trade, 
by enabling the adjoining proprietors to work the whole 
thickness of their brick-earth, gravel, or other useful 
matters, and destroy but very little of the surface of the 
ground, and without being annoyed by water, but which 
the canal would catch in very considerable quantities 
perhaps, instead of losing water oy pieserving a high 
level through porous stuff, it is highly to the interest 
of a canal company to give facility to the getting and 
conveyance of all useful articles within their* district, at 
the cheapest possible rates, as the only means of open¬ 
ing new sources of trade or manufactui es, by which their 
concern will be most essentially benefitted. 

In districts where stone and gravel for making and 
repairing roads are scarce, it will be proper to p.,y the 
laborers certain rates per cubic yard for ail the siones or 
gravel that they may collect out during the work, and 
stack in proper places ; as resources for making the 
towing-path, and for making good the landing or ascent 
to the several bridges, and the several pieces of new 
road that the engineer will have to form, near to the ca¬ 
nal and bridges ; the lock-banks and all wharves and 
landing places should also be covered with good gravel, 
to render them safe and convenient for use : if good 
gravel can in places be intersected in deep-cuttings, 
much of the abo> r e expense, as well as of cartage, may 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


45 


be saved, by an early use of dirt-boats in the bottom of 
the canal 

It cannot we think, have failed to strike every reader, 
ere this, how very important and various the duties of 
the resident engineer a e ; but the same will be much 
more apparent, when we shall have finished in the fol¬ 
lowing pages, our observations, under the heads of re¬ 
servoirs, feeders, aqueducts, embankments, culverts, 
safety-gates weirs, tunnels, deep-cuttings, locks, brid¬ 
ges, towing paths, boats, See. &q. of which we shall pro¬ 
ceed to treat ; after observing, that none but r.nen of the 
strictest integrity and extensive knowledge ought to be 
empioyed a-s resident engineers, and that the commit¬ 
tee and principal engineer ought not to hesitate in offer¬ 
ing an 1 paying such men a very liberal salary, to engage 
the whole of their time ; and, that too great a length of 
line or extent of business should not be put upon such 
a man. This is the proper sphere, where young men 
or others of knowledge and persevering industry, who 
are coming forwards in their profession, should exer¬ 
cise and give specimens of their abilities as engineers ; 
and it will prove of the utmost importance to such, as 
well as to a company who have an extensive line of'ca-* 
nal to construct, to employ more than one of such men 
at the same time, upon adjoining lengths of the canal ; 
where their emulation may be excited in an honorable 
contest, as to which of them shall execute his portion 
of the business in the most complete, orderly and eco¬ 
nomical manner. 






INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


4S 


CHAP. IV. 

RESERVOIRS. CALCULATIONS OF THE QUANTITY OF 
WAFER GAUGING SPRINGS AND STREAMS. EXAM¬ 
INATION OF THE GROUND FOR A RESERVOIR. SLOPE 

OF The head, laying out the head, aprch and 

WELL. COCK AND PIPE , FOR DISCHARGING THE W i- 
TER. SYPHON CHARGED WITH MERCURY. GAUGE-PUD¬ 
DLE. ENUMERATION OF THE PRINCIPAL RESERVOIRS. 

O NE of the first considerations relating to the con¬ 
struction of a Reservoir for supplying a canal, is 
the supply of water that is to be expected for it, and in 
what proportions at different times of the year : for this 
purpose we suppose the engineer to be furnished with 
an accurate survey of the vale or vales that lie above the 
intended reservoir, so as to be able to calculate exactly, 
how many square miles and fractions of surface drain 
towards or vent their rain-water through the part inten¬ 
ded to be embanked for the reservoir ; it will be very 
proper also to be furnished, if possible, with the exact 
gauge or quantity of water that has actually in former 
J£urs been discharged by the brook or stream that is to 
be embanked ; as also with the quantity or depth of rain 
which usually falls within the drainage of the intended 
reservoir. If the length of time that has elapsed, since 
the situation of the reservoir has been determined on, 
has not allowed of careful and accurate experiments be¬ 
ing made on these points, the engineer must assume 
them from the best data that the information of millers 
and other persons will afford, and the printed tables, or 
journals of rain, kept by curious persons in the nearest 
similar situations, must be consulted : it is particularly 
necessary to attend to this last circumstance, because 
there are we believe, instances of pieces where the an¬ 
nual depth of rain does not amount to a foot, and others 
in which it exceeds five feet; while 23 inches is about 
the medium depth of rain annually at or near London. 




INTERNAL NAVI&ATION. 


47 


The most perfect method of obtaining true information 
on this subject, is to gauge the different springs or 
streams, from whence the supplies of water are to be de¬ 
rived, and thus to ascertain the exacf surplus, after the 
mills are amply furnished. In the great contest about 
the Rochdale canal, Mr. Rennie had all the streams, 
which could be affected by the proposed reservoirs, gau¬ 
ged for about a year. He first ascertained the state of 
these streams at a time when the mills were amply sup¬ 
plied with water and had proper gauges fixed upon them. 
The daily difference was measured, and the surplus 
thus ascertained amounted in the year 1793 to sixteen 
times the ordinary produce of the rivers. The evupo* 
ration that takes place, from a given surface of water in 
different places, has not yet been so accurately observed, 
as the importance of the subject to canal engineers de¬ 
serves ; Mr. Bevan's observations thereon, in Bedford¬ 
shire, continued for five years, to the end of 1804, gave 
an evaporation of 22.92 inches at a medium per annum, 
while the depth of rain there, in the same period, ave¬ 
raged 23.28 inches ; in some years the evaporation con¬ 
siderably exceeded the depth of rain, and in others it 
Sell as much short of it or more. 

It will sometimes happen, that the valley in which 
the reservoir is to be made, has other valleys parallel to 
it, on one or both of its sides, such, that by beginning % 
sough or small tunnel above the level of the reservoir, 
continuing it with a small rise through the adjoining 
hill, and from its further end continuing a ditch or feed¬ 
er along the side of the hill rising gently as it proceeds 
till it intersects the bottom of the vale, a brook or con¬ 
siderable stream of water may at times be there inter¬ 
sected and brought into the reservoir, or. another case 
may happen, in which the adjoining valleys instead of 
being parallel to, proceed directly from the reservoir 
valley, and yet feeders may he set out, so us to coil ct 
great quantities of rain and spring water, from cue sides 
of the hills that slope towards the adjoining valleys, un4 
through which it would otherwise escape. 


4S 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


The engineer, who has well considered and ascer¬ 
tained all the circumstances of the vales in or near to 
which his reservoir is to be constructed, v ill be able, by 
help of a number of levels, carried round to where the 
surface of the water will extend at every 5, 10. 15. 20, 
&c. feet in depth, or oftener, if the unevenness of tne 
ground requires it, to calculate to what height tiie 
mound, dam, or head of the intended reservoir must be 
embanked or raised to retain all the water tnai his val¬ 
leys can supply, between the times that it is fed by rains 
and springs, and required to be let off to the canal or to 
mills, or such quantity only as it may be necessary so to 
retain, according to the principles before laid down. 

The necessary height of the head or embankment 
for a reservoir being determined, the next step will be 
to examine miautely the nature of the sinta and soil 
that are to be covered with water, and whether the 
whole or any part of the same is so porous js to require 
lining with puddle, as also the nature of the stuff wnich 
is to be used in forming the head or bat k to dam up the 
water to the necessary height, as thereon will depend, 
in a great measure the degree of slope which the batiks 
ought to have ; one and a half to two feet base to one in 
height is the usual degree of slope ; but if the soil 
should prove a slippery c ay, as at toe Aldenham reser¬ 
voir, belonging to the Grand Junction canal, a greater 
slope should he given, as well as the precaution taken, 
of putting in fiequent layers of sand or coarse gravel, 
to lessen the tendency ot such soil to slip. It the re-’ 
servoir will requit e bottom lining, yet still, it will not 
sometimes be right to trust to lining for the head of the 
reservoir, but to catty up a pudd e ditch in the center 
of the head, bee use if the inside of the head should 
happen to slip, the lining would he broken and disturb¬ 
ed. The slopes being settled, it w ill be tight to make 
a cross section of the Valiev at the place of the center 
of the head, and to determine bv levelling, and mark 
out the places ol as many perpendiculars or cqui.distant 
ordinates as the length of the bead acioss in; vatiny, 
and the nature of the sides of the hills may requite. 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


49 


The height of the several perpendiculars, corresponding, 
with the top-level of the intended embankment, being 
thus obtained, the engineer will find no difficulty in cal¬ 
culating and laying off from each of them the extremi¬ 
ty of the base of the head or embankment, taking care 
to make the due allowance for any variation of the sur¬ 
face of the ground from a horizontal lino : the engineer 
will cause slope-holes to be made ; and a careful work¬ 
man, after pegging down his line, by holding his tool in 
an inclining position according to the slope of the in¬ 
tended embankment, will mark out a lock-spit, as a 
boundary or base to the embankment. The engineer 
w i now proceed to calculate in cubic yards or feet the 
solid contents of the required bank : and the most eli¬ 
gible spots for obtaining the necessary quantity of stuff, 
without endangering the slipping or stability of the 
bank, may be marked out; and the work will then be 
in a state to be let to the contractors, who are to exe¬ 
cute it. But before this work is begun, it will be ne¬ 
cessary to provide for the escape of the surplus water 
when the reservoir shall be full, as also for letting out 
the water for use ; for these purposes an arch of brick¬ 
work, or of stone, may be begun at the lower limit of 
the bank in the lowest ground or brook course, and the 
Same should be continued on a level to a point a consi= 
derable distance within the head of the reservoir. 
This arch should be high enough for a plank to be sup¬ 
ported and fixed on irons or bearers across it, about a 
foot from its bottom, on which a man can conveniently 
walk along ; and for this purpose, the archi had better 
be made elliptical, or higher than it is wic/e ; a secure 
iron gate should also be provided, to be kept locked, at 
a few yards into the arch, from its outward extremity, 
for excluding improper persons. At tl| a inward ter¬ 
mination of the level arch there should be ■ circular well 
of six or eight feet diameter more or less, according 
to the greatness of the floods that may be expected, to 
be sunk six or seven ieet deeper than the arch ; its 
bottom should be formed either of one very large flat 
stone, or of a few well jointed ones laid on a course of 

r 


50 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION 


puddle, and on this the steining of the well should be 
begun, with bricks of the very best quality, well keyed 
up and embedded in cement; and having a course of 
puddle nine inches or a foot thick,worked all round behind 
them, allowing the same to set as the work advances in 
height; this well and the arch are to be securely groin¬ 
ed imo each other; near to this groin, or within reach of 
a man standing on the end of the plank above mention¬ 
ed, which should not advance quite up to the well, 
should be a large brass cock worked into the walling ; 
the mouth of this cock should be turned down ; so as to 
discharge its stream of water exactly in the direction 
for the center of the bottom of the well ; and from the 
cock should proceed a large pipe of lead or cast iron be¬ 
hind the wall of the well at some distance, for which 
purpose it will require a considerable bead, and this 
pipe should proceed from the cock, soundly embedded 
in good puddle, to a convenient place in the bottom of 
the reservoir, above the embankment, where it should 
terminate under a large and stout box full of holes, or a 
fine grating, to prevent the entrance of fish or any thing 
that might choak the pipe or cock. In constructing the 
arch before mentioned, after it has proceeded as far as 
the intended puddle ditch, (which we have recommend¬ 
ed to be carried up in the center of the embankment, 
and which will cross the arch) the puddle-ditch should 
be dug out for some distance on each side across the 
afch ; the same should be continued down to water 
tight-stuff, or at least for some depth into other matter, 
if unfortunately such is not within reach ; and when the 
puddle is carried up and set, as also a course of puddle 
in the bottom of tne arch course which should have 
been dug deeper for such purpose ; the bottom of the 
remainder of the arch should be carefully laid on the 
puddle, and a centering for the arch is to be laid on the 
same and firmly secured down, this precaution being 
necessary to prevent the semi fluid puddle that is co be 
applied successively, outside of the arch as it is carried 
up, from floating or burying up the centering along 
wifh the lower part of the arch, t he work is f hus t» 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


51 


proceed until the part of the arch from the puddle-ditch 
to the well is completed, and enclosed complet.ely.in a case 
of good puddle, thoroughly and completely joined at one 
end into the puddle-ditch, and into the puddle that sur¬ 
rounds the well at the other. When the weli-steining 
has been carried up to the bottom of the arch, it will 
be necessary to increase the thickness of the puddle- 
wall round it, to three feet or more taking care that the 
extra width is firmly bedded upon undisturbed and solid 
earth. The well is intended to be carried up in like 
manner, surrounded by puddle and by a conical em¬ 
bankment of earth, to within two feet of the height of 
the bank, leaving a channel of several yards wide, and 
of considerable depth, betsveen it and the bank or head. 
It will be necessary for the engineer to calculate and 
mark out the base of this conical embankment ( j/hich 
is to support the puddle round the well) upon the 
ground, with allowance for am pie slopes to prevent slip¬ 
ping or its washing down : it will also be proper, for en¬ 
suring stability to.the work, to reduce the whole of the 
top of the work to one level, as soon as can be, by suc¬ 
cessive layers of stuff 1 thereon, and of puddle in the 
puddle-ditch and round the well : and if the bottom of 
the reservoir requires lining, owing to the porosity of 
the soil ; it will be right after levelling and treading the 
part adjoining and under the intended embankment, to 
cover the same with 3 or 4 courses of puddle, joining 
the same perfectly with the puddle-ditch, and the pud¬ 
dle round the well, to which courses of puddle the bot¬ 
tom lining is afterwards to be carefully joined ; and af¬ 
ter this is properly set,^ the remainder of the bank and 
of the cone round the well may be proceeded with, as 
we have before mentioned, when treating of the rearing 
of canal banks with puddle-ditches in them. The bank, 
or head being completed to its upper surface, and the 
well and conical embankment being also carried up to 
the proper height, the well should then be coped with a 
layer of the best hewn stones cramped together, and the 
top reduced to a perfect level ; and for security, it will 
be right to pave the surface round the well and for some 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


52 

distance down the sides of the conical embankment, 
with paving stones pretty well jointed, and set their 
longest way into the soil, filling their joints with mould, 
end sowing grass seed therein *n prevent the waves from 
afterwards loosening the stones wearing the bank; this 
conical bank is for enabling the vater to fall into the 
well on all sides; if the well was made in a conaer of 
the reservoir, much digging would be required, both for 
the arch or pipe to let out the water, and for the dis¬ 
charging arch. 

We have been thus particular in describing the cir¬ 
cular weir or well-fall above recommended, from hav¬ 
ing seen the beneficial effects of one, in the reservoir 
near the Duke of Bridgewater's canal; and the mis¬ 
chief that is sometimes done to the banks of a reservoir 
and the adjoining lands, by letting off the flood-waters 
by common wiersor tumbling bays at the cot neis of the 
reservoir, and suffering ii to find or rather tear its way 
down into the valley. Reservoirs constructed on the a- 
bove principles would be secure almost from accident, 
however high the embankment, or sudden and copious 
the floods, if the well is but made sufficiently large, and 
^eep of water at the bottom, to receive the shock of the 
descending column of water. If the floods arc so con¬ 
siderable as to bring down timber and other large float¬ 
ing matters, it will be necessary to fix a strong grating 
or circle of bars round the top edge of the well bank — 
it will be proper, that the core or plug of the cock to a 
reservoir should be turned by an endless screw, or by 
toothed wheels, so that considerable power and nicety in 
the adjustment of the stream let out, by the turning of 
the cock, may be attained; and a register should be pro¬ 
vided of the number of turns, and fractions of a turn, 
that is given to the winch or handle in any case. It will 
be proper to fiaunch on a small pipe to the large one, and 
connect the same with an inverted glass syphon filled 
with mercury, in the arch near the well, so that by tur¬ 
ning a cock the, height of the mercury should indicate 
on a scale attached, what depth of water there is in the 
reservoir above, or how much it wants of being full at 


-INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


53 


the time. A series of accurate experiments should be 
made, by gauging the stream'of water at the discharg¬ 
ing end of the arch, or at the first convenient place be¬ 
low it, ascertaining thereby how much the cock dischar¬ 
ges per hour or day, when the water is at different heights 
in the reservoir, and with different turns of the cock- 
geer: these should all be repeated, and sufficiently nu¬ 
merous, to enable the engineer by interpolation., to fill 
up and form a table, (copies of which the committee 
ought carefully to preserve) by which at any given 
height of mercury, the cock can readily be set to dis¬ 
charge any number of locks full of water that may be 
required per day. No great difficulty would attend the 
forming of a gauge-puddle, instead of, or by the side of 
the brass cock that should regulate itself, and discharge 
any regular and constant quantity of water that the re¬ 
servoir could supply: see Ley bourn* s Repository , 3vo. 
p. 165. It will be right also for the engineer and com¬ 
mittee. to have tables for readily shewing the quantity 
of water that every reservoir contains, at each foot or 
shorter portion of its depth, indicated ny the mercury in 
the syphon, or by a graduated gauge post fixed up in a- 
ny part. For forming a table of this sort, where a com- 
plete survey had not been made or preserved at first, the 
time of a hard h ost should be chosen, and a sufficient 
number- of holes at equal distances, in a great number of 
parallel or equidistant lines, should be bored or cut 
through the ice sufficiently large to let down a plummet 
to sound the depth, and if this is done with care when 
the reservoir is full or nearly so, a most correct table of 
its contents at different depths, can be thus obtained by 
calculation. Some of the considerable reservoirs that 
have been constructed for canals, are at Aidenham,Da- 
ventry, and Wilstone on the Grand Junction ; Kilsyth 
on the Forth and Clyde ; Branstone, and Denton on the 
Grantham ; Ripley on the Crawford ; Ainsworth oil 
the Nottingham; Littleborough on the Rochdale ; Mars- 
den on the Huddersfield ; Oxen,don on the Leicester¬ 
shire and Northamptonshire Union; in Rudy end vale 
near Leek; for supplying the Caldron branch of the Trent 

TP ^ 

X 


/ 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


j 4 

Mersey canal, which covers 160 acres, has its head 
SO feet high and the water in general very deep. St. 
Ferriol reservoir constructed about the year 1670, on 
the canal of Languedoc in the south of France, occupies 
a space of 595 acres, its banks are walled round with 
free-stone, and its waters let out when wanted, by a large 
pipe and cock. 


CHAP. V. 

FEEDERS. CONSTRUCTION OF FEEDERS. GAUGING THE 
QUANTITY OF WATER. KNOWLEDGE OF THE STRATA. 
SINKING THE SUMMIT LEVEL FOR A RESERVOIR - 

considerations thereon, aqueducts, aqueduct 
bridges. Their form and construction, cast- 
iron aqueducts, their construction according 

To R. FULTON. STUPENDOUS AQUEDUCT Cl V MR. FUL- 
TON*S PLAN OVER THE RIVER DEE. ENUMERATION 

of The principal aqueducts. 

I N constructing feeders or channels to convey water 
to a canal from springs, brooks, or reservoirs above 
its level, the same care must be taken to examine the 
nature of the soil in every part, and to apply a lining of 
puddle, as have before been mentioned respecting the 
line of a canal, wherever porous stuff is to be cut through. 
Where there are a great number of undulations in the 
ground, through which a feeder is to be conducted, that 
would occasion it to be very crooked and much impede 
the cultivation of the land, it will be proper, in many in¬ 
stances, especially if the land be valuable, to cover over 
the feeder in a culvert or small ar£h of bricks, of 18 in¬ 
ches or 2 feet diameter, or larger it' the supply at a- 
j»y time will require the same, in very porous soils, 
these culverts, inclosed in puddle^ will be the most ef- 
V.tual way of preserving and conducting small streams 


internal navigation. 


55 


of water, and no land will thus be lost to cultivation. In 
some places, feeders will require considerable embank¬ 
ments and aqueducts, to cross valleys and streams of 
water, and preserve their level, or gradual and small 
fall; and in many of such cases, it will be cheaper and 
better to use cast iron pipes well jointed and flaunched, 
and laid within the ground, down one side or bank of a 
vale to be passed, and up the other, securing each end 
carefully with a strong box full of holes, or a fine gra¬ 
fting, to keep extraneous matters out of the pipe. It has 
often happened, where reservoirs are situate at some 
distance above a canal, and a bro< k course led from the 
reservoir to the canal, that the water was left to take its 
ancient course on being let out of the reservoir; an ex¬ 
pert engineer, will, however, carefully examine all such 
feeders, for thus they ought to be considered, and fill 
up all deep holes, and lower the shallows in the brook- 
course, so as to reduce the channel nearly to an uniform 
width and depth ; and very accurate gauges of the wa¬ 
ter ought to be made at different seasons of the year, of 
the quantity issuing out of the reservoir arch, and the 
quantity received into the canal ; if these differ mate¬ 
rially, intermediate and comparative gauges should be 
made of the stream, until the faulty or leaky ground is 
discovered, probably some stratum of sand or open join¬ 
ted rock ; over which the brook-course or feeder ought 
to be carefully lined with puddle ; and if puddling stuff 
be scarce, the soil veiy porous, and the brook-course 
very crooked, it may be the most effectual way as well 
as the cheapest in the end, to pass such leaky ground by 
a small culvert, inclosed in puddle under ground, by 
the side of the brook-course, as straight as the course of 
the valley will admit. Except in situations, where mills 
in the vicinity of an intended canal are much in want of 
water, or their owners or others disposed to thwart the 
scheme, it has been usual to allow the company to search 
for, and divert to their use all springs of water within 
certain limits on each side of their line ; in the acts for 
the Newcastle underline Junction , the Southampton and 
Salisbury , and the upper part of the Tamer Manure ca- 


56 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION* 


nals, this limit is fixed at 1000 yards ; in the Aberdeen 2 
JPolbrook, Tamer Manure, lower part, Thames and Med¬ 
way, Wilts and Berks , and others, this is fixed at 2000 
yards on each side of the line. In such cases an accu- 
rate investigation and knowledge of the strata, upon Mr, 
Smith's principles, will be of the most essential impor¬ 
tance, in order to collect and retain springs that are a- 
bove the summit level, or even lower, in situations, 
where a local trade is to be provided for. It has been 
usual in some mining districts, to require, that engines 
near an intended canal, should lift their mine-water in¬ 
to such canal, or high enough to be conducted into it by 
a feeder, as in the Birmingham and Fazeley canal. It 
will be worth considering, on a summit, where water is 
scarce, whether a tunnel may not be more eligible than 
deep-cutting, on account of large springs which would 
be intersected by the lower level of the former, when 
the deep cutting must perhaps be in porous stuff, or 
perhaps in dry open rock. As the summit pounds or 
levels of most canals are in deep cutting, through a con¬ 
siderable portion of their lengths, it is often attended 
with but little additional expense, except in the case of 
tunnels, to make such summit pounds one or two feet 
deeper in water than usual, as on the Derby, Cromford, 
Manchester, Ashton and Oldham , Oxford , and other ca¬ 
nals, in order that such additional depth, being filled in 
winter or wet seasons, may act as a reservoir for drier 
ones : but it has not always been considered, that such 
deeper pounds, when filled 18 inches or 2 feet fuller than 
is necesssary, occasion the necessity of letting off twice 
that extra depth of water, over the area of a lock, each 
time that a vessel passes the summit; by which, such 
reserve of water is in a great measure dissipated before 
the dry season for which it was intended arrives. We 
should recommend, either the use of reservoirs so much 
above the summit level of the canal, that they may be 
emptied into the same, when the continuance of dry 
weather required it ; or, if such deeper summit pounds 
be made, on account of their considerable length for hol¬ 
ding water, that a lock capable of penning 18 inches or 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


5Y 


2 feet, and of shutting very tight, should in such case be 
built, near each end of the summit, to be used as long as 
the summit water is higher than usual, but which might 
at other times be left open, when the water was level on 
each side of them. 

Before we quit the subject of supplying a canal with 
water, we beg to mention, that'it may be worth the 
while of the engineer, where water is to be pumped up 
to supply the lockage, as we have before mentioned, to 
design and calculate the expense of wind-machines, ca¬ 
pable of doing the required work, and of the probable 
expense of their repair ; and to compare the same with 
the cost of erection, expense in fuel, alter.dance and re¬ 
pairs of well constructed steam-engines to do the same 
work. 

On the erection of Aqueducts for conveying a canal 
over any very deep and wide valley, or over a large or 
navigable river, we beg to mention, that a most secure 
foundation must be sought for, by sinking, or obtained 
by piling, for the piers of an aqueduct-bridge, and that 
the arches ought, in every case, to*be arches of equili¬ 
brium , because the least settling in brick or stone 
bridges, by letting through the water, may prove of tbs 
most fatal consequence. The plan of an aqueduct- 
bridge should be curving inwards, that is, the ends 
should be wider than the middle, the walls should also 
not be upright, but battering, receding or diminishing 
upward^ on the outside, to give greater strength and 
stability to the whole ; the materials, if of stone or 
brick, and the cement, should be cf the very best quali¬ 
ty, and the work executed in the summer season only. 
Care should be taken that all the joints of brick or stone 
are worked as close as possible and thoroughly filled 
with cement; the slopes for the sides, and also the bot¬ 
tom of the canal should be made rough, that the puddle 
may the better adhere to them, and that it may not slip, 
owing to the steepness of the sides, which must be 
more so than in other parts of the canal, to avoid unne¬ 
cessary expense of masonry or brick work in the 


58 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION, 


length of the bridge. The lining as above is, however, 
liable to be soon cut away by the boats. 

Since the year 1795, anew kind of aqueducts has 
been introduced into this country, composed partly of 
cast-iron, which promises the greatest advantages, ex¬ 
cept, perhaps, where free stone of an excellent and du¬ 
rable quality is found upon or very near the spot, or 
where the contemplated aqueduct-bridge is very distant 
from any iron mines, or existing navigations that con¬ 
nect with such. In the year 1797, Mr. Thomas Tel- 
ford , the engineer, wrote an account of the inland na¬ 
vigation of the county of Salop, which has since been 
printed in J. Plymley’s Report to the Board of Agri¬ 
culture, on the Agriculture of Shropshire, and we beg 
to extract therefrom what he says on this subject when 
speaking of the Shrewsbury canal, p. 299, as follows: 
“ This canal passes over the valley of Tern, at Long, 
for a distance of 62 yards, upon an aqueduct made all 
of cast iron, excepting only the nuts and screws, which 
are of wrought iron ; and I believe this to be the first 
aqueduct for the purposes of a navigable canal which 
has ever been composed of this metal. It has com¬ 
pletely answered the intention, although it was foretold 
by some, that the effects of the different degrees of heat 
and cold would be such as to cause expansion and con¬ 
traction of the metal, which not being equal to extend 
or draw b^ek the whole mass of the aqueduct, would 
operate upon the separate plates of iron so as t(*jtear off 
the hunches which connect the plates lengthwise, and 
break the joints. Others sa ? d, that the expansion of 
freezing water would burst the sides, and so break off 
the flanches which connect the sides with the bottom 
plates: but after the trial of a summer heat, and the 
very severe frost of the winter of 1796, no visible al¬ 
teration has taken place, and no water passes through 
any of the side or bottom joints.” 

Mr. Robert Fulton , an American engineer, who hap¬ 
pened to be in this country at the time, seems to have 
availed himself of what was going on at Long Aque¬ 
duct as above, and of the machinery of various kinds, 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 59 

in use upon the Ketley and Shropshire canals, and to 
have prepared drawings and models of a variety of such 
machinery, with many improvements of his own, and 
submitted the same to the examination of a committee 
of the Board of Agriculture, in March 1796. There 
have since been published in a handsome quarto volume, 
entitled, A Treatise on the Improvement of Canal Na¬ 
vigation, by R. Fulton, from which,- page 114, we beg 
to ex* act what he says on constructing aqueducts of 
cast-iron for a narrow canal as,follows : “ The hutments 
and piers being raised, it. will only be necessary to ex¬ 
tend two pieces of timber across tlie span ; each to be 
brace.d back to the piers, and covered with plank, to 
form a stage or a scaffolding which will answer every 
purpose of centres necessary to works of stone. The 
iron work, may all be cast in op o sand, and of the fol¬ 
lowing dimensions : supposing me span 100 feet, and 
the spring one six'll ot Uie snan. 

Fii si, three segments of a ircle, e cl ia three pieces, 
about 36 feet long, eigni inches oy four diameter, tu bo 
united Second, three strugHt bars, to extend from 
one pier to the ot >er, to be of. ie above diameters, may 
also be cast in three pieces, which bars are to extend 
along the top of tne segments to the piers, and form a 
line parallel to the horizon; the a sand segments to 
be united by perpendicular sun ups, ten or fifteen feet 
distant from each other The mortice in the lower end 
of the stirrup being thirteen inmtes long, will be suffi¬ 
cient to secure the segment, and leave room for a hole 
two inches square, through which u cross brace is to 
pass, and fasten the segments at p oper distances ; the 
brace to have a mortice cast on each side of the stirrup, 
in order to tighten the work, by wedges. On me top of 
the stirrup, the square hole to leceive the cross b:ace 
may be beneath the mot rices, by which means the 
whole may be combined, and form an iron s age to sup¬ 
port the troughs. The trough piatt s for the canal 
should be at least one inen thick, the side plates six feet 
broad, and as great a length as can conveniently oe cast; 
which may be performed twelve feet and perhaps more 


60 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


in length : the flange to be outside on those plates, 
The bottom plates may be six feet wide, thirteen feet 
long, seven feet plate, am four arms projecting, each 
three feet long, in order to support the horse*path and 
braces. Two of these plates laid across the stage, and 
screwed together, with the flange under, will compose 
a length equal to one of the side plates which may ei¬ 
ther meet or break joint as is thought proper. The 
whole may in this manner,be screwed together on pack¬ 
ing of wool and tar; and have the seams pitched like 
those of a ship. On the plates composing one side of 
the trough, small brackets, about three lee* from the 
top, must be cast, in order to support the horse-path ; 
perpendicular rails, eight feet long being raised from 
the arms of the bottom plates, will support the outside 
of the horse-path, as also the iron railing. By this mode, 
two patterns will answer lor the whole of the trough- 
plates, and but few will be required, for the springs, 
rails and spurs. The saving in time and expense will 
be considerable ; particularly where it is necessary to 
bring the stone by long land carriage ; for the arches 
being dispensed with, and the piers not more than one 
third of the dimensions necessary to an aqueduct of 
stone, will most materially reduce the quantity of ma¬ 
sonry. In aqueducts ol stone, one of the great difficul¬ 
ties is to line and puddle so tight as to prevent the water 
penetrating into and injuring the masonry ; but in one 
of iron, should a leak take place it will instantly appear ; 
and on shutting the stop-gates at each end, and dischar¬ 
ging the water, it may be stopped in a few hours, it not 
minutes : this circumstance in aqueducts is, perhaps, 
one of the greatest preservatives ; they are consequent¬ 
ly less liable to injury, and only subject to the corroding 
tooth of time.” 

Since the above period, a most stupendous work of 
this kind has been undertaken by Mr. Jessofi , on the £.1- 
lesmcre canal, and is now nearly or quite completed, for 
C 'ossing the Dee rivet at Pont* y^yltje, ab ut 20 miles 
S. W.of Chester ; where nineteen massive conical pil¬ 
lars of stone at fifty two feet from each outer, the mid- 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


6! 


dlemost of which is no less than 126 feet in height, sup¬ 
port between the top of every pair, a number of ellipti¬ 
cal cast-iron ribs, which by means of upright and hori¬ 
zontal bars, support a cast-iron aqueduct about 987 feet 
long, 20 feet wide, and 6 in depth, composed of massive 
sheets of cast-iron, cemented and rivetted together, hav¬ 
ing on its south side an iron platform and railing for the 
towing-path. In May, 1776, Mr. James Jordan took 
out a patent for suspending aqueducts from ribs of cast 
iron above them, in the same manner as his suspended 
iron bridges. 

Among the most considerable aqueducts of stone or 
brick are those at Lancaster on the Lancaster canal, at 
Kirkintolluch and at Kelvin on the Forth and Clyde , 
Chirk on the Ellesmere , Marple on the Manchester , 
Ashton and Oldham , Monk-bridge on the Trent and 
Mersey, Whaley-bridge on the Peak Forest , Avoncliff 
and Dundas on the Kenvet and Avon , kc. while at Bur¬ 
ton on Bridgewater* s, a navigable river is passed, and 
near Wigan on tfee Leeds and Liverpool , £ nother canal, 
(the Lancaster) is passed upon aqueducts. 


62 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION, 


CHAP. VI. 

EMBANKMENTS. PRECAUTIONS TO PREVENT SLIPS — 
ARCHES FOR BROOKS OR ROADS. THEIR CONSTRUC¬ 
TION. WING-WALLS. EMBANKMENT ON TllE SLOPE 
OF A HILL. THE MOST CONSIDERABLE EMBANKMENTS 

enumerated. safett-gates. Their location 

AND CONSTRUCTION. STOP^GATES. STOP-PLANKS. 
STOP-BARS , HOW MADE. WASTE-GATES. TRUNKS. 
WEIRS. TUMBLING-BATS. JVEIR-BRIDGES. WELL- 
FALLS. PUDDLE-WEIRS. FLOOD-GATES. CULVERTS , 
MANNER OF MAKING THEM. 

T HE making of embankments appears to have been 
long piuctised in China, where we read of pans of 
their canals of 200 feet wide, that are embanked 20 feet 
high, for gieat lengths together ; the rivers through the 
fens of Cambridge and Lincolnshire in this countiy, 
have also been long confined thus, by artificial banks.— 
Most of the aqueducts of which we have been speaking 
above, have less or greater lengths of solid mounds or 
embankments for forming the canal upon, to the proper 
height, and for joining them to the aqueduct-bridges. 
Ati the observations and remarks which we have made, 
respecting the setting out and ascertaining the dimen¬ 
sions of the head of a reservoir will apply to embank¬ 
ment*. The angle of the slopes ought to be determi¬ 
ned by the result of similar enquiries, and the same 
precautions used to prevent slips, in soils that are so 
disposed, as were mentioned respecting reservoir heads: 
it will generally be a safer way to carry up a puddle- 
ditch in each bank, than to trust only to lining the ca¬ 
nal. In every considerable embankment there will be 
required one or more arches to convey a brook or river 
under the canal, and, perhaps, others for roads to pass 
through ; sucii arches should always have an inverted 
arch turned below them, deep enough for the bottom of 
the brook, and below the roads, and the arch itself should 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


63 


be ©ne of equilibration. To avoid making a very large 
arch tor a brook or small river, it is usual to make a road 
or communication arch near it, with iis bottom well pa¬ 
ved, and no higher than the surface of the meadows, 
which will serve to vent the sudden floods in rainy sea¬ 
sons. 

Great care should be taken to slope off and finish the 
ends of arches under an embankment, agreeable to the 
slopes Or sides of the banks thereof; by which the banks 
are prevented from moulding down into the brook or 
road-way, and aukward projections in the slopes of the 
banks are avoided: at the entrance or upper side of a 
water-arch, or of road-arches that will occasionally be¬ 
come such, return or wing-walls of brick or stone should 
be made, for some distance along the bottom of the 
slope of the embankment, and the sharp corners of the 
entrance of the arch should be a little rounded off, to 
prevent the rapidity of sudden floods from wearing os? 
injuring the bank. It is to be observed, in conducting 
a canal along the side of a steep and high hill, that after 
a certain degree of steepness of the ground, it will not 
be possible to cut the canal on the principle that the ex¬ 
cavation shall just form the bank, but such banks will 
often require stuff to be provided from other places, and 

such are indeed cases of embankment : and here it mav 

✓ 

be proper to advise, that new banks, ought not to be 
placed on very steep ground, without considerable care 
in first forming it into levels like steps, to prevent the 
slipping of the new part, as happened near Bradford on 
the Kennet and Avon canal, after all the care that was 
taken, and great lengths of the canal slid down into the 
Avon river below, t he making of which good again cost, 
we are told, near 1000 pounds. Among the considera¬ 
ble embankments that have been made for canals, are 
those at Bollinand Stretford on Bridgewater's, and Wol- 
verton, Weeden, and Bugbrook on the Grand Junction , 
&c. but the greatest extent of high embankment known, 
is that in the valley of the Boyne, in the Grand canal of 
Ireland ; and the highest bank iri the world is also to he 
found in the same canal in the valley of the Kye river ; 


64 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


it is above 90 feet high. We are told that Mr. Jama 
Brindley used a kind of caisson of planks, in forming his 
great embankments, in which dirt-boats were used, to 
bring stuff from the higher ground, that had been cut 
through. 

We are next to speak of safety-gates, sto/i-gates and 
stof-planks which are different contrivances for stop¬ 
ping the water of a canal in case the banks are failing in 
any part, or that any part wants emptying to repair the 
works. Advantage is generally taken of the walls un¬ 
der the bridges, for constructing these contrivances, 
where the same happen in the proper places ; otherwise 
the canal must be contracted by upright walls, the same 
as is done at the biidges on purpose for them. 

For explaining the nature and construction of safety* 
gates, it is necessary to premise as above, that the side 3 
or wall of the canal must be upright or perpendicular ; 
a sill of solid oak or of stone extending across the canal, 
and some distance into each side or wall, is to be sound¬ 
ly embt dded into the bottom of the canal,so that its upper 
surface shall be nearly level therewith ; into this sill on 
each side of the canal is to be mortised an upright or 
perpendicular post of stone or of oak, extending about 
a foot above the top water line, and each of which posts 
is to be embedded into the side or wall in the most se¬ 
cure and substantial manner, and is to be flush with the 
general face of the wall ; on each side of these posts, 
however, the wall is to have a recess ol about two inch¬ 
es, and of sufficient extent to give room for the gates to 
play and shut against the posts : the gates are to be 
hung to each of the outer, upper edges of the sill, turn¬ 
ing on hinges, centres or hollow quoins. These gates 
thus opening each way, are not to lie flat on the bottom 
of the canal, but to be a little raised towards a shutting 
position, (not so much however, as to obstruct the pas¬ 
sage of boats) and they are to be so balanced by counter 
weights that they will remain in this position unless dis¬ 
turbed. When thus placed they will operate as follows : 
supposing, for instance, the canal to be made in a north 
and south direction, and that a sudden breach should 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION, 


happen in one of its banks to the south of the safety- 
gates ; it is evident that a current in the canal from 
north to south would be the immediate consequence.— 
This current, pressing against the under side of the in¬ 
clined northern gate (the edge of which is to be sloped 
off to give greater effect to the water) will, at once, 
force it up, against the posts at its end6, in a perpendi¬ 
cular position ; in which situation it will completely 
close the canal and prevent the passage of the water be¬ 
hind it. A breach to the north, will produce a similar 
effect upon the other gate. Safety-gates should be pla¬ 
ced at proper distances on every long level, especially 
if the same is much embanked ; both to prevent the 
loss of so much water, in case of a bank breaking, and 
the mischief that the same would do to the lands, mills> 
kc. below the breach. We read of a new bank break¬ 
ing on the Warwick and Birmingham canal, and destroy¬ 
ing a gentleman’s park-walls ; and in the year 1783 so 
great a breach suddenly happened on Bridgewater's ca¬ 
nal, near London bridge on the Chester road, that three 
barges were carried through the same a great way out 
into the fields. A single safety-gate ought to be placed 
at the end of every long embankment, to stop the water 
in case of a breach happening in its banks. 

Stofi-gates are similar in their construction to the 
safety-gates above described, except that the gate lies 
flat on the bottom of the canal, instead of being balan¬ 
ced, and has a chain by which it can be hauled up, when¬ 
ever occasion may require the canal to be stopped. 

Stofi-filanks are a simple, though not so expeditious, 
a provision for stopping the canal as the last; a groove 
is provided in the two opposite walls under a bridge, or 
in a narrow and walled place, and a sufficient number of 
well jointed planks are provided, to be dropped into the 
groove whenever the water is required to be stopped, 
and here these are often called ■ drofi-fitanks. 

In very large works like the London docks , a barge or 
vessel is built in the place whose head and stern posts 
exactly fit into a groove as above, and the vessel can be 
boated into rnd out cf its place or sunk therein as occa- 


66 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


sion may require. The engineer will have to makt 
provision, while the canal is digging, for stop-bars at 
the several intended toll-houses, or other places where 
it may be necessary to stop barges in the night, or in ca¬ 
ses of any dispute about their lading: these bars are 
composed of a large baulk of fir timber floating on the 
water ; and a small arch capable of containing such a 
floating beam of the proper length is provided under the 
bank, so that when the trade on the canal is required to 
be stopped, the toll-clerk has only to draw out the beam 
by means of a cord attached to it, until its end enters a 
recess in the opposite wall, and then to lock the beam 
fast. 

We shall next describe the Waste-gates, Trunks , 
Tumbling-bays, or Weirs, that must be provided, for 
letting off the superfluous water of a canal in wet times, 
for keeping the water at one certain height, or drawing 
it off in case any repairs are wanting. Waste-gates are 
sluices of the common construction in the side of a ca¬ 
nal, where any considerable quantity of water is requir¬ 
ed to be let out, and are to be drawn up, either by a 
rack and pinion, a chain and roller, or a number of holes 
for a crow-bar, as circumstances may render most eli¬ 
gible : where lesser quantities of water are to be let 
out, or for emptying certain lengths of the canal between 
the stop-gates or planks, when occasion may require, 
Trunks formed of oak or elm planks, well jointed, 
should belaid into the bank, at the bottom of the canal, 
and carefully inclosed in puddle, with a valve or shuttle 
that will shut very tight, and can be readily drawn when 
the water is required to be let off: we beg to recom¬ 
mend, wherever wooden trunks are used for any such 
purpose, that they should be sunk so low, or the mouth 
where they discharge; should be made up, so that the 
trunk may always remain quite full of waier, and the 
air at all times be excluded ; in which situation wood 
y*ill last much longer than if wet and dry alternately. 

In the choice of situations for Weirs, to discharge 
the surplus water of a canal, care must be taken not to 
let off. any considerable quantity at any time, except in- 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION, 


er 

to a brook-course or bottom of a vale, that is crossed or 
proceeds up to the canal, and has ditches through which 
the water can escape, without tearing or doing injury to 
the adjoining land. The most frequent tumbling-bays 
or weirs to discharge water from canals are composed 
of strong walls of brick or masonry, whose topis coped 
with hewn and well jointed stone, or with a stout sill of 
oak, the top of which is just level with the top-water 
line, or about one foot lower than the top bank. T here 
should be a paving of large stones for the water to fall 
on, and escape at, and wing walls at the ends of the 
weir, to keep up the bank and confine the water. 
'These weirs are generally on the towing-path side, on 
which a low plank bridge is supported over it, called a 
weir bridge. When these weirs are wanted of consid¬ 
erable length, the wall which composes them ought not 
to be straight hut on a circular plan, curving inwards in 
the middle, by which it will be better able to support 
the lateral pressure of the bank behind it ; a puddle- 
ditch should be carried up immediately behind the wall, 
allowing the courses of puddle to set thoroughly, before 
others are applied, that the great pressure of the semi¬ 
fluid puddle may not overset or disturb the wall, and the 
paving, on which the water is to fall, should be of large 
and well jointed stones, and if set upon a course of pud¬ 
dle it would be a further security against their washing 
up, which too often happens We have seldom seen 
any considerable weirs or tumbling bays of the above 
construction, but where it would have been better to 
have followed the example of Mr. James Brindley on 
Bridgewater*s canal, and have made a circular-weir or 
well-ialJ, on the upper side of the canal. We have 
spoken of well-lalls when treating of reservoirs. 

For letting a proper quantity of the surplus water of 
a canal forwards into the pounds below, a small weir is 
generally constructed in the walls at the head of each 
lock, which lets the water down into the puddle-holes, 
or crooked arches that convey the water for filling the 
locks, and hence such are called puddle-weirs or lock- 
weirs. The upper gates or doors of the len ks are often 


$8 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


pi nkcd op no higher than the top-waterline, and there*- 
i re .c s w< it s Tor discharging the surplus Water into 
the lock ; arid gates ol this sort are call e(] flood- gates. 

On the const-i union of Culverts, or drains under a ca¬ 
nal for conveying i w y water from the upper tothe low- 
ei sulr ol tie canal it remains for us to say, that iiuy 
should bo carefully ppoi ioned in size to the stream 
that is to p iss through cem in Hunch, and should be- 
constructed of sound hi ic k or stone work, and inclosed, 
or at least \U\'I covered on their upper side with puddle. 
Mci.-.y cngmeeis have u^ed wooden mi iks for this pur- 
po , hut except wood b-' in great ph ivy, and of th« best 
qu n y, and good brick m s*one very difficult to be pro¬ 
cured, it is not advisable to use perishable materials in 
such situations. If the ground be moory or bad, and a 
cuivert roust lie pretty near to the bot'om of the canal, 
and have but a slight covering, it may be proper, in 
some situations, to use c >st iron cylinders fhnehed to- 
gether. as was done under or near the Staffordshire and 
Worcester canal ; and such may be made cheaper and 
easier of carriage, by bring in two or three segments 
longitudinally, to be 11 -ncheci together before they are 
laid down ; and in such situations, perhaps leaden rivets 
might be cheaper and moie durable than wrought iron 
ones, or nuts and screws If bricks are to be used in 
culverts, over soft and moory ground, or qnick-sands, a 
ci 'die composed ol ribs of wood and boards or rails, 
such as are used for centering, should be prepared, suit¬ 
able to the outer curve of the intended culvert, and such 
cradle should be carefully embedded, in the proper 
place to «eceive the bricks of the lower segments of the 
culvert: for want ol such precaution many a culvert 
has sunk partially, perhaps owing to the springs exca¬ 
vating the sand 01 filth fiom below, and has been brok¬ 
en, to t!ie great injury of the canal. Culverts are of so 
much importance, that too much care can hardly be ta¬ 
ken »o make them solid and secure, and to cover them 
effectu liy wit.* puddle: another hint we would heie 
give, respecting the choice of places for thh* culverts ; 
they should never, ii possible to avoid it, be made ex> 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


6® 


actly in an old brook-course, ditch, or slough, but in the 
nearest sound ground ; and where often they can be got 
iown to the proper depth, without any trouble from wa¬ 
ter, or at least the same can be easily pumped out; and 
the stream need not be admitted to the work, until the 
old brook or slough is required to be filled up. In this 
way it will often happen, that culverts may remain dur¬ 
ing the winter following their construction, completely 
excluded from the frost, and therefore may be done lat¬ 
er in the year, by filling in the stuff upon them and at 
their ends, and the mortar be completely set before the 
new channel at the ends for conducting the water 
through them need to be cut. 4nd we beg to remark 
that by an attention to this circumstance in making new 
arches under roads, and keeping the bottom of the arch 
much lower than is generally done, or indeed practica¬ 
ble in the old channel or slough, half or two thirds cf 
the whole expense will generally be saved; for a deep 
and new channel being cut to the new arch ; by scour¬ 
ing out the brook-course tor some distance below, old 
ford-places, if the descent to them be easy and conven¬ 
ient, will not require immediately to be filled up or al¬ 
tered ; but during any extraordinary flood, the same, if 
composed of gravel and hard stuff, may act the part of 
a wier for a short time, in carrying ofl’ the water, with¬ 
out injury to the road or material inconvenience to the 
passengers. It will sometimes happen, that a stream 
of water is required to pass under the canal, in places 
where it is not embanked; in such cases a crooked or 
broken-back culvert is to 5)e made for the purpose ; this 
will require puddling as before described, and a strong 
box full of hole,s, or grating should be fixed over each 
of its ends, as well as pits or hoies to be m tde at the up¬ 
per end, deeper than the mouth of the culvert ; to re¬ 
ceive and detain the sand and gravel which the stream 
may bring down in has'y rains, otherwise these, or the 
stones that mischievous boys might throw into it, would 
in time choak it up in its lowest place under the middle 
of the canal. 


70 


INTERNAL NAT3GATI0N. 


CHAP. VII. 

TUNNELS. SELECTION OF A PROPER PLACE FOR A TUN¬ 
NEL. IJE iDING OR SOUGH. CROSS- HE A DINGS. TUN- 
NEL-LINE. TUNNEL-PITS OR SHAFTS. HORSE-GIN 

or Turn-reams, transfer of the level, cen¬ 
terings F R the arch, excavation, templets. 

PARTICULARS OF THE TUNNEL AT BUS IVORTH. FOUL- 
RIDGE. TUNNEL. ENUMERATION OF THE PRINCIPAL 
TUNNEL. ' 

T HE construction of Tunnels , or subterraneous 
arches, for drawing off or conveying of w 7 uter, has 
been known from the earliest periods, as appears by the 
celebrated works of this kind between lake Copias in 
Boeotia and the sea; between the lakes formed by the 
inundations of the Nile in Egypt and the Mediterrane¬ 
an ; as also by the courses of the Roman aqueducts, 
many of which were tunnelled through hills of great 
extent. In the mining districts of this country, we 
have long had levels or audits of .considerable extent to 
mines ; in the neighbo: hood of Matlock in Derbyshire, 
the Helcarr Sough nas been cut through the solid rock 
for nearly four miles in length, for the purpose of drain¬ 
ing the several lead mines in the vicinity ; Wirksworth 
Moor Sough , of near three miles long, and Cromford 
Sough of two miies in length, with many others of less 
note, are also to be found at great depths in that neigh¬ 
borhood. The first tunnel that we read of, as con¬ 
st’ucted for the purpose of navigation, was by Mi. 
Riquet near Bezieres on the Languedoc canal in Franee ; 
and the first in this country, was the entrance made to 
the Duke of Bridgwater's coal-mines at Worsley near 
Manchester by James Brindley ; while the first of our 
tunnels undertaken for the purposes of general trade, 
oi as a thoroughfare, was by the same engineer at Hare- 
castle on the Trent and Mersey canal. 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


7 1 


It is essential to the convenience as well as the beau¬ 
ty of a tunnel, that the arch thereof should be quite 
straight, and exactly level; considerable care will there¬ 
fore be necessary in obtaining an exact section, by lev¬ 
elling, of the hill that is to be perforated, when a line in 
the exact vertical p; ne of the tunnel is fixed and staked 
out over the hill ; in doing which, it will be right to 
choose the narrowest place that the hill presents at the 
pioposed level, and where also the hill i ises rather bold¬ 
ly from such level ; otherwise an expensive and trouble¬ 
some length of deep-cutting would be necessary, or of 
the tunnel that must g; dug out from above and then 
covi ced up again, before a suffi lent depth of stuff over 
head would be come at, to admit of working under 
ground ; it will also be of consequence, when deter¬ 
mining the ex id line for a tunnel, to avoid having the 
deep-t lilting and entrances in ailu tal or disturbed and 
slippery soils, but, if possible, to enter at once upon the 
solid and undisturbed strata of which t e hill is com¬ 
posed. 

It will but very rarely happen, and that only in short 
tunnels, made for the pm pose of preserving the level of 
a canal, that the workings will not be in soil more or 
less full of springs of water ; therefore one of the fiist 
operations, after the line and level of a tunnel is finally 
determined on, is to search, by levelling, for a place in 
the nearest vale or brook that is some feet below the 
proposed level of the bottom of the tunnel ;. this must 
be more or less, according as the intended tunnel is of 
greater or less length ; and from this point a large 
ditch must be opened, with a very small rise towards the 
end of the tunnel, as far as is practicable, and then a 
hi a ding or sough must be begun, just large enough for 
men who are used to such business to work in, and to 
line it securely with bricks as they proceed, nut leaving 
proper openings in the joints for the springs to collect 
freely from all sides into their heading. Some persons 
have supported their headings with boards and props of 
wood, instead of arching them ; but which practice we 
cannot recommend: all such works ought to be dura- 


75 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION, 


bly constructed, or should any accident or circumstan¬ 
ces, as the want of money, &.c. delay the completion of 
the work for some years ail this tedious and expensive 
work will perhaps require doing again ; it ought also to 
be considered, that after some years or ages have elap- 
sed, the tunnel may want repairs or alterations, and that 
the same headings may be again opened and used, to 
lay it dty in a short time if dur ably constructed ; which 
may be of the most material consequence in lessening 
the period of interruption to the trade by such repairs 
or alterations It will be necessary to begin a he-ding 
as above mentioned on each side of the hill, and work 
them up towards each end of the tunnel, a'.ong the line 
of which it is to proceed from each end, rising gently 
as it advances towards the middle point, that the water 
may run off'freely ; the headings should be a few feet 
below the bottom of the working, that will be necessary 
for the inverted arch of the tunnel, and a few yards off 
on the side of it ; and cross headings or soughs must, at 
stated distances, be run under the line of the tunnel, in¬ 
to which, openings can afterwards be made to carry off 
the water which collects in each separate working. If 
the soil be rather stiff, and the quantity of water in it not 
very considerable, one heading may suffice ; hut where 
porous stuff, with great quantities of water are intersec¬ 
ted, it will he necessary to branch off an additional hea¬ 
ding, to proceed along the other side of the line, the 
more effectually to draw off the water ; by which per¬ 
haps, if the headings are done a sufficient length of time 
before tne tunneling is begun, a quick-sand, or similar 
running of the stuff, may in several places be prevent¬ 
ed. in driving the headings, any fissures dr cavities 
filled with sand or loose matters, are inter ected, and are 
found to bring a considerable quantity ot watei from one 
side of the line, it may be right to drivt a cioss beadi: g 
for sen.e distance into such porous stuff, for intercept¬ 
ing the water before it leaches the intended workings 
of the tuimel. 

l ilt mxt operation will be to set out a ii. very truly 
parallel to the hue ot the intended tunnel; anu to mt i k 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


73 


thereon, at equal distances, about 150 yards apart, or of- 
tener, if great expedition in completing the tunnel is re¬ 
quired, the place of the several tunnel pits, that are to be 
sunk for drawing up the stuff excavated from the tun¬ 
nel, and letting down the centres, bricks and other things 
wanted in the work ; it will be well */contrive the Jme 
of the headings and tunnel pits, so that they may coin¬ 
cide ; and in great lengths of heading, shafts or tunrel- 
pits may be sunk at intervals, to give air to the head¬ 
ings, and through which the stuff excavated therefrom, 
may more readily be drawn up : and it may be advisable 
in some instances, to set out a line «n each side of the 
tunnel, for the tunnel-pits, to be some oh one side and 
some on the other of the tunne i, and that both may in 
places intersect the headings. If bricks or stones are 
not at hand when the tunnel pits are begun, and wood 
is plenty, the shafts or tunnel-pits may be made square, 
and have their sides supported by boards and struts of 
wood ; otherwise they should be made round and lined 
or steined like a well as soon us they ate done ; if the 
soil should prove loose and full of water, H will be ne¬ 
cessary to stein the shaft as soon as such soil is reached, 
and to work afterwards from undernt th the curb, and 
let the skeining sink, as is clone in well sinking. Some 
tunnel-pits have been made over the line of the tunnel, 
but such do not admit of being steined with safety, on 
account of tire weight thereof, which would damage the 
crown of the tunnel, where they were gn inedinto each 
other ; and such of them as are left afterwards for air 
shafts, if the soil is wet, will let an unpleasant dripping 
of water down upon the goods ot passengers in passing 
through the tunnel as we once experienced in passing 
through Bra nston tunnel on the Gravel Junction canal. 
A common roll and winch will be sufficient for drawing 
up the stuff and water, nd letting clown bricks to stein 
with, unless the quantity of w ter is considerable ; but 
It will be proper to eicct a horse gin, or tu n beam, such 
as are used at the .-.hafts of coal-pns, for the cheaper and 
more expedite u drawing up the stuff and letting down 
of muleiials, when the workings have commenced.— 

H 


74 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION# 


We have before recommended a line to be staked out 
exactly parallel to the line of the tunnel for the centres 
of the several tunnel-pits, and care should be taken that 
no gin, or other obstruction, be erected in this line, so 
that a fine line or string can at any time be stretched a- 
cross the top of any of the tunnel-pits, and be adjusted 
without fear of mistake in the exact range ot this line, 
or parallel to the intended tunr el. When a tunnel-pit 
is completed and steined, and a communication formed 
with the heading to keep the same clear of water ; two 
points must be fixed in the steining near its bottom, by 
letting fall or suspending plumb-lines, at the time that 
there is no wind to distuib their vertically, and adjust¬ 
ing another fine line between the two points on the 
steining below, so as to be exactly under and parallel to 
the line above and consequently so to the intended tun- 
neb The engineer should carefully repeat his levels 
nd transfer the level of the bottom of the intended tun¬ 
nel, or the surface of the water of the canal therein, and 
mark the same carefully in the steining of each tunnel- 
pit : and thus the workmen who are to undertake the 
work will be furnished with the direction, level, and dis¬ 
tance of the tunnel they are to form under ground. 

The work commences, by excavating a passage from 
the tunnel pit into the line of the intended tunnel, and 
supporting the same properly with timber, or walls and 
an arch as a passage into the w ork. A piece of the in- 
tended tunnel, a yard or more in length, according as 
the soil is found to stand, is then excavated, in the pro¬ 
per form, place, and level,ascertained from time to time 
by stretching a fine liae between the marks, on the 
s eining before mentioned, and measuring therefrom, 
and using a common plummet-level for transferring the 
t level from the level-mark on the steining before men¬ 
tioned ; great numbers of ribs for centerings should be 
prepared in different segments, and in readiness tc put 
together with nuts aid screw s, leaving as much room 
in the middle or centre as can conveniently be done, for 
the men to work and pass through after the same are 
put up ; the puus of two of these ribs are then to be let 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 75 

down the tunnel-pit, and to be put together and lived 
lip in their proper place and distance asunder in the 
tunnel; short lengths of boards or laths are to be pre¬ 
pared and fixed on their outsides, as the turning of the 
arch proceeds ; which, as well as every other part of 
this very difficult work requires the utmost cue and 
experience to make it sound and substantial ; when this 
first yard or less in length of the tunnel is turned and 
securely keyed up. the same is secured by ramming in 
elav, or proper stuff, so as to fill every cavity above or 
withoutside the brick-work The workmen then begin 
at each end of the piece that is turned, one party work* 
ingone way along the line of the tunnel, and another 
the contrary way, until another yard or other length of 
the tunnel is excavated, when other ribs are put up and 
fixed together, boarded, and the brick work is turned 
round or behind, ihe same as before ; the utmost care 
being taken to joint these courses evenly and securely 
into the former ones : the vacant space is then rammed 
up with earth, and a new excavation proceeded with at 
each end as before. The engineer ought frequently to 
renew his level marks from fixed and good bench marks 
on the ground, and to examine and adjust the ranging 
line, and also himself most carefully inspect each work¬ 
ing of the tunnel, and examine, by stretching a fine line 
along its centre, and measuring and levelling to his ran¬ 
ging line in the tunnel-pit, to see that every part cf the 
work is proceeding exactly in the same line, and so that 
when in process of time each adjacent working shall be 
joined, and the tunnel be completed, the whole may 
form one exact and truly straight arch. If the ground 
proves loose and bad for standing, it will be proper to 
continue the work, by different sets of men, without ti¬ 
ny intermission ; and care should be taken that the work 
never is left, even for anight, without templets, or short 
pieces of plank, being put up to cover the roof, that is 
necessarily left open to admit the men's heads and arms, 
while they are turning and backing up their last length 
of work at ti*e crown ; and these templets should be se¬ 
curely shored up by spars or struts, to prevent tbe earth 


76 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


from settling 1 or falling in, which has actually happened 
in some tunnels, owing to the neglect of ttiis simple and 
necessary operation, so that a considerable length of the 
tunnel required to be dug out from the surface of the 
groilnd to repair the breach; When the tunnel and 
ends are completed, (Inches are to be dug out, across 
the headings, ne u* the entrances of the tunnel, and a sub¬ 
stantial puddle-ditch carried up, to effectually dam them 
up, and force the water that afterwards collects in them 
to rise up into the tunnel, through cross-headings to be 
left for that purpose. 

The tunnel at Blisvvorth, on the Grand Junction ca¬ 
nal being the latest that has been completed (February, 
1805,) we have ascert .inetl the following particulars re¬ 
lating to it, ifj order to give some idea of the present 
state and expenses of tunnel making. The internal 
width of this tunnel is 16 1-2 feel, the depth below the 
water-line to the inverted arch 7 feet, and the sofit or 
crown of the arch is 1 l feet above the same line. The 
side-walls are the segments of a circle of 20 feet radius, 
the top arch of one of 8 feet radius. The side and lop 
walls are 17 inches or two bricks thick, and the bottom 
or inverted arch 13 inches or 1 1-2 brick thick ; every 
fifth course of the top arch, and every eleventh of the 
side walls, is composed of two heading bricks, or wedge¬ 
like, one inch thick on the inside and three, at the back ; 
also, every fifth and eleventh course as above (but be¬ 
tween the courses of heading bricks) are composed of 
bricks laid obliquely across the others, the front and 
back corners being cut off for that purpose in the m iking, 
for more effectually breaking the joints, of work obliged 
to be done in such short lengths. The mortar that was 
used, was composed of one bushel of Soutbam lime 
( blue liasJ and three of good sand. Six inches under 
the water-line, on each side of the tunnel, slide-rails of 
fir, 5 inches square, to keep the barges off the walls, are 
fixed by pieces of oak let into the wall below them; 
which rails project 9 inches from the wall, and have at 
every J feet a chock of wood upon the rail, for the barge¬ 
men toT.et their pole against for shoving their barges 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


77 


along. We were told that this tunnel was contracted for 
at £ i 5 13s. per yard run : the soil principally a hard 
blue clay, with two or three thin rocks in it. Sufficient 
headings had been executed several years before at the 
company’s expense. The same contractors were paid 
10 1-2 d. per cubic yard for excavating the deep-cutting 
at one end of this tunnel, and 1 Id. per cubic yard for the 
other. The expense of driving the above headings 
were, we understood, from 36s. to 42s. 6d. per yard run. 
Nineteen tunnel pits, some of them 60 feet deep, were 
sunk for the use of the above tunnel, which cost about 
30 s per yard in depth including steining. In our in¬ 
quiries respecting Braunston tunnel, on the same canal, 
we were told, that 320 yards of the same was drove in 
quick-sands, and that cost £4800 extra on that account. 
The Foulridge tunnel on the Leeds and Liverpool ca¬ 
nal, of 1630 yards long, proved to be in such very loose 
and bad ground, that the whole of it, but about 700 yards 
was obliged to be dug out from above ; in some part ; 
30 yards wide at top, and near 20 yards, deep, and im¬ 
mense works of timber were necessary to support and 
keep the banks apart, while the tunnel was turned, and 
the soil tailed in again. Some part of this work done a- 
bout the year 1 794, cost £24 or more per yard inn. 

After a good length of the tunnel has been completed 
and well backed up, and been allowed some days or 
weeks for the earth to have regularly settled upon the 
brick-work, the centering may be removed, by loosen¬ 
ing the screws and taking it to pieces, to be again put 
up and used further on in the same working. In tun¬ 
nels upon high levels in porous soils, and in others some¬ 
times near their ends, or in crossing any dry and porous 
stratum, it may be necessary to excavate the bottom u 
foot or 18 inches deeper than usual, and to hi! the same 
up again with well wrought and stiffish puddle, and to 
turn the inverted arch, and as much of the sides as are 
below the water line, upon the same when set. The 
navigation through some of our tunnels is very incon¬ 
venient, owing to the want of a towing-path through 
them. The tunnel near Atcham on the Shrewsbury 

ii 2 


7 8 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION* 


canal, though of 970 yards in length, has a towing-path 
through it ; so has one at Newbold on the Oxford ca¬ 
nal, and many other short ones in different places. In 
all short tunnels, and even in long ones, if the ground 
proves, on examination, sound and good for tunnelling, 
it certainly would be worth while to give the necessary 
width to the arch, to admit of this essential appendage. 

Among the most considerable tunnels that we have, 
are those at Worsley on Bridgewater's canal 18* * miles 
in length! Marsden on the Huddersfield, 5280 yards ; 
Sapperton on the Thames mid Severn , 4300 yards ; Pen- 
sax on the Leominster and Kington, 38 50 yards ; Laplat 
on the Dudley , 3776 yards ; Biisworth on the Grand 
Junction, 3080 yards ; Ripley on the Cromford, $000 
yards ; Dudley on the Dudley, 2926 yards ; Rarecastle 
on the Trent and Mersey , 2888 yards ; Norwood on the 
Chesterfield, 2850 yards; West Heath on the Worces¬ 
ter and Birmingham, 2700 yards ; Morvvelham on the 
Tavistock , 2500 yards ; Oxenhall on the Hereford and 
Gloucester, 2192 yards ; Braunston on the Grand Junc¬ 
tion 2045 yards, S zc. 

The longest tunnels that have been proposed, besides 
the above, were one of five miles on the once proposed 
extension of the Manchester, Bolton and Bury to the 
Calder river ; and one of 4 l -4 miles on the Portsmouth 
and Croydon, through the Chalk hills south of the latter 
place. The towns of Manchester, Kidderminster, and 
Southampton appear to be tunnelled under by the Bridge- 
waters, Stafford and Worcester^ and Southampton and Sa¬ 
lisbury canals respectively. 

* This it is believed, is a mistake. Phillips in his Inland 
Navigation, p. 89. when speaking of this canal, observes . — 

The canal runs through a hill, by a subterraneous passage, 
big enough for the admission of long flat bottomed boats, 
which are towed by hand rails on each side, near three quar- 

*ers of a mile under ground to the coal works. There the pas¬ 
sage divides into two channels, one of which goes 500 yards to 
the right, and the other as many to the left, and both may be 
continued at pleasure.” The whole length of this canal, from 
Woftsley Mill to Manchester, is, according to Mr, Phillips, 
but nine miles. 



I STERNAL NAVIGATION. 


CHAP. VIII. 


DEEP-CUTTING. HEADINGS TO DRAIN OFF THE IF AT EH. 
PUMPS OR S7'EAM-ENGINE FOR THE SAME FURPOSE. 
SLIPS . SLOPES OF THE BANKS. LAYING OUT THE 
WORK. EXCAVATING MACHINES. PRINCIPAL DEEP- 
CUTTINGS enumerated. 

HE excavating of deep-cuttings appears to have 



1 been long familiar to the Chinese, since we read 
of some of their canals that are in places excavated 80 
feet deep 1 and of others that arc cut ‘i0 feet deep for se¬ 
ven or eight miles in length. 

The setting out and determining upon the slopes of 
a deep-cutting of considerable depth and length, are ob¬ 
jects deserving more of the engineer's attention, than 
has in too many instances been bestowed upon them : 
the first step, after the line and the level of the intend¬ 
ed canal are determined upon, should be to examine 
minutely the soil in every part that is to be cut in, and 
to prove the same by the sinking of several shafts ; if 
any of these, towards the centre of the hill, should be 
found in loose and porous soil full of water, while the 
ends of the intended cutting may appear to be in sound 
stuff; it will be worth while, in some such cases, to put 
down pumps and erect a temporary steam engine, to 
pump up the water during the work, and to drive head¬ 
ings from such pump-shaft, on one or both sides of the 
intended cutting, and below its bottom, as has been be¬ 
fore mentioned, preparatory to driving a tunnel. 
Should the whole of the cutting appear to be in loose 
alluvial stuff, full of water and disposed to slip, or a part 
only of the ground at one end, as happened at the south 
end of the deep-cutting near Tring, on the Grand Junc¬ 
tion canal, it.will be right to begin such part by driving 
a heading up from a proper point below the intended 
cutting, and to give time for the springs to drain off be¬ 
fore the cutting is begun, which may afterwards proceed 


SO 


INTERVAL NAVIGATION. 


in separate lengths at the same time, and with much 
greater certainty and dispatch, by the help of cross 
headings, to drain off the water, than is practicable 
without such precaution, unless expensive and very 
powerful pumps or machines are used in the works to 
clear them of water in different places ; while the ten¬ 
dency to slip is much increased by such sudden and 
partial drawing off the water. 

‘Sli/is are among the most formidable accidents to 
which canal works ate liable, and can hardly be too 
much guarded against, by giving an extra slope to banks 
in such places, but particularly by driving headings be¬ 
hind such parts, sometime before the workings arc be¬ 
gun, in order that the springs may be intercepted, by 
Which the most porous and loose stuff' like quick-sands 
may, in many instances, be converted to sound and good 
standing stuff. After all, where the strata alternate 
very fast, and have a considerable dip, and any slippery 
matter like fuller’s earth or potter’s clay intervene, ad¬ 
joining to a porous soil that can supply it with moisture, 
it is almost impossible to avoid slips, that will prove 
most disastrous in their consequences, both in expense 
and delay of the works ; as happened at Thing deep- 
cutting above mentioned, also on the Gloucester and 
Berkley canal, and many others. 

When the engineer has by a thorough investigation, 
as above recommended, ascertained the nature of the 
ground, and its tendency to slip, he can detei mine what 
slope the banks ought to have, in every part, above the 
canal ; for these ought not to be regulated by the slopes 
against which the water is to lie, but they may be as 
steep as ihe ground or rock will stand in every conside¬ 
rable length together: and the degree of the upper 
slopes will be liable to vary accordingly 5 if these are 
too much sloped, a waste of land and labor in excavat¬ 
ing and making spoil banks will lie occasioned, while 
if they are made too steep in slippery or loo>e wet 
ground, slips may happen that will occasion still more 
serious expenses and delay also. All these prelimina¬ 
ries being settled, and the width in every part culcuktt- 



INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


8 I 


ed, a number of slope holes must be made on each side 
of the part to be excavated, and lock-spits dug out by a 
careful workman, as mentioned before in the marking 
out of the canal, and the top-soil being removed and 
clamped, from a sufficient space for slowing the siuff, 
the work will then be ready for the contractors to begin 
digging. It may not be improper, here, to remark, 
that in cases of deep-cutting it will generally be found 
useful and proper, to make provision for a bench berm, 
or horizontal recess mto the bank at a proper distance 
above the top-water line, which will serve to catch and 
retain the dirt that may moulder down from above, and 
prevent its falling into the canal. This need not be 
done on the towing-path side, as the towing-path an¬ 
swers the same purpose. This-bench or berm will also 
be found equally useful on the upper side of the canal, 
where it passes along the slope or side of very sleep 
ground. 

This will be :• proper place to notice several machines, 
and contrivances for assisting the operation oi excavat¬ 
ing canals, docks, or other deep-cuttings. The most 
' simple and usual method for small depths is bv runs of 
wheeling-planks, supported in an oblique direction up 
the side of the bank upon horsing blocks of different 
heights, on which the laborers wheel out the stuff In 
larger works, turn-beams , or horse-gins are erected on 
the ba»k,and a level stage or scaffolding iserected over 
part of the deep-cutting ; two ropes wind and unwind 
contrary ways off the drum or barrel of the gin, and 
pass over pulleys fixed over the end of the stage; 
these ropes terminate in three smaller ones, two of 
which have at their ends rings, and the other a hook of 
iron. When a loaded barrow arrives on the run k»elow 
the stage, a laborer stands ready to slip one of the rings 
on to each of the handles of the barrow, and to hook the 
other end into the fellies of the wheel; when the revo¬ 
lution of the gin draws up the loaded barrow to the 
stage above, which a laborer lands, unhooks the three 
ropes, and affixes them in like manner to an empty bar- 
row that is to be let down, while a full one is ascending 


82 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


as before, by the other rope. The loaded barrows are 
wheeled away upon the stage, and run therefrom to any 
place above that k desired. 

At the London Docks , we saw a very simple method 
used; two strong posts were set fast into the top of the 
bank of the docks, at 40 or 50 yards from each other ; 
and at about five or six feet high on each, a targe com¬ 
mon pulley or ship’s block was fastened, by a short 
length of rope ; through these blocks a strong rope was 
run, whose ends terminated m two smaller ones, with 
rings at their ends, as before mentioned : the length of 
this rope was so adapted, that one end reached to the 
bottom of a very steep run or plane of planks that were 
laid an<l fixed on the bank, pointing up to the post at 
top ; while the other end was nearly at the top of anoth¬ 
er similar plane at the other post. At a proper place 
between the two pullies, the whipp'e-tree of a horse’s 
harness was attached or lashed oh to the rope. The 
operation was conducted by a m »n arriving at the bot¬ 
tom of the plane with his loaded barrow, the wheel 
standing at the foot of the plane, the end of the rope be¬ 
ing at the bottom of the plane, and the horse standing 
still near the post at its lop ; the laborer then slipped 
the two rings on to the handles of 1 is barrow, and the 
horse being set in motion towards the other post, the 
barrow was drawn up the plane, and the man also with 
it, who made use of his leet, sustaining himself from 
falling backwards by holding fast by the barrow handles, 
which he at the same time waseaaoled to guide ; when 
arrived at the top, and entered upon a plane there of 
less inclination, the horse had arrived almost at the oth¬ 
er post ; and while he was stopped, and was turned 
round ready to return again, by the boy who attended 
him, the laborer slipped the rings off his barrow han¬ 
dles, and wheeled the same away upon the upper run ; 
another laborer instantly slipped these rings on to the 
handles of his empty returning barrow, and the return 
of the horse let him and his barrow down the plane a- 
gain, the handles going first, and the man holding them 
as before, but with his back tothe barrow ; while the other 



INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


Bl¬ 
ends of the rope were drawing another laborer and his 
loaded barrow up the other plane as before. The sim¬ 
plicity, dispatch, and perfect operation of this contri¬ 
vance, do great credit to its inventor. In very conside¬ 
rable works, it will be attended with the greatest dis¬ 
patch. as well as ulti mate saving of expense, to use 
trams and te noorarv iron rail ways ; and if the height 
and quantity of stuff to be cl livered at any one place be 
very considerable, ind ued planes, with steam-engines 
of small dimensions, (such as are now every day manu¬ 
factured and improved) should also be erected, to draw 
up the trams, as at the London Docks above mentioned. 
It is evident, that the simple and straight course for the 
horse, attached to the middle of a rope, as above, may 
often be snbstitu'ed for the expensive turn-beamsabove 
mentioned, particularly where dispatch in setting the 
apparatus to work is an object 

Among ttie most consider ible deep- :uttings, are those 
at Ashton, on the Lancaster. f ring on the Grand Junc¬ 
tion , Costun H teket on Worcester and Birmingham* 
Burbage on the Kennet and Avor* Littleborough, on the 
Rochdale , Smethwick on the old Birmingham , &c. 

+ - ' r <• • 


CHAP. IX. 

DESCRIPTION OF A LOCK OR POUND-LOCK AND OF ITS 
USE CHAMBER OF THE LOCK. GATES* PADDLES OR 
CLOUGHSy BREAST OF THE LOCK. CONSTRUCTION OF 
A LOCK . DOVE TAIL PILES OR PILE PL • NKS DE¬ 
SCRIBED. SHEETING. LOCK-SILL return WALLS 
OR WING-WALLS HOLLOW QUOINS C'.'OjKEU CUL¬ 
VERTS WEI<OR OVER-FALL DESC RIP TION OF THE 

GATES. BUMPING PIECES. STRAPPING POSTS. COF¬ 
FER-DAMS. 

A LOCK or Pound Lock, is the conn^ing par*: be¬ 
tween toe two pounds >> reaches oi a cana. that 
are upon different levels/ and tars part, cWied the 


84 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


chamber of the lock, can at pVnsure, be made to coin¬ 
cide, in the level of its water, with either the upper or 
lower canal. This is mm tged by means of two pair of 
doors or gates, one at each end of the chamber of the 
lock, in which gates, or through the side walls of the 
chamber, are provided small sluices, or p iddlcs, by 
which water can be let from the hight r pound to fid the 
chamber to the upper level, t.be lovVt.i gates being close 
shut; or to emp y the s. me to t e level of the lower 
canal, the upp* >* gates being close shut: by which 
means, supposing the hv k <mfiuiny (this term is often 
used, but it is not to be literal.y un.leistood, since the 
lock, whtn s>.id to be empty, has the same depth of wa¬ 
ter in its bottom as the lower canal has), and a vessel or 
boat ariived on the lower canal, there will be no d.ffi- 
culty in opening the lower gates, and entering*he lock, 
because the water is level anti test ; having ended 
the lock, the gates are shut after it, and water is drawn 
from the upper canal by the peddles or doughs, and in 
a few mb ules the lock becomes full, the boat having 
risen with the water ; when this is the case, the upper 
gates can he opened without difficulty, the pressure of 
the water being equal on both sides of them, and the 
boat can now move forwards on tire upper canal. In 
this state of the lock, we have only to suppose another 
boat to enter from above, and to shut the upper gates af¬ 
ter it ; when the uppe r paddles being close shut down, 
and the lower ones opened, the water will sink in the 
chamber, and tire boat with it, until the lower gates can 
be opened, owing to tire level of the water, and the boat 
Cun proceed forwards on the lower canal. The two 
oper ti* ns which we have described arc called locking 
u/i and locking down. 

We have before observed, that the fall at each lock 
ought to be equ. I; and tire locks ought to be all of one 
width and length unless water be in great plenty, and 
any local t race of * pr nicular kind may require them to 
be otherwise ; because, when the locks are ail equal in 
size, a boat in dr sccnding through a tine of locks will 
require the same quantity of water at each iock, which 


t X T»R:• AL NAVIGATIOK. 


Hi 

we may suppose to descend with the boat, and there 
will be no water to discharge uselessly by the weirs, or 
required from the feeders, by such bout during its de¬ 
scent, as must happen in descending through a seucs 
of unequal locks. 

The upper gates of a lock stand on a weir, or wall 
made across the canal called the breast of me lock, and 
the place of this is to be fixed by the engineer before 
the workmen cun begin to dig out the ground for the 
lock ; which being done, an inverte I arch, with a slight 
curvature, is turned very sound with bricks or good 
hewn stones, as a floor to the chamber of the l >ck, 
which, if the soil is porous, should have alining of pud¬ 
dle under it, and should be worked into the side and 
breast walls: the foundation of these wails ought very 
carefully to be attended to, unci if ike ground is not very 
sound and good ; piles must be drove, and the founda¬ 
tions of them secured in the most substantial manner. 
Instead of turning an inverted arch under,'and for some 
distance within and without the lower gates, two rows, 
or more, if the sbil is very p • ous o soft, of pile-plank¬ 
ing. or dove-tail pikes, are to 5e drove across the bot¬ 
tom of the lock i the length that these are to enter into 
the ground will, in a great measure, depend! on the soft¬ 
ness and porosi f y of the bottom. Pile-Planks, or dove¬ 
tail piles, are stout pieces of narrow elm or oak planks, 
each having a groove down both its sides to receive a 
thin slip of deal or other str ignt- grained wood, to break 
the joint, and prevent the water from getting through ; 
before the first pile is drove, it is to be sharpened at 
i tom by a level on each side, and shod with iron, if 
t it precaution shall appear necessary ; the other piie- 
l inks that are drove in succession, are sharpened to a 
notable wedge, but instead of the acute angle being 
square to the pde, it is levelled to about 45 °, by which 
the second pile, as it . drove, will be forced close to the 
first, the tail’d to tile second, the fourth to the third, 
&c. ; d the slips or tongues being afterwards put 
d >w . me grooves an -paiiotr bio btrrier will be form¬ 
ed to prevent the water itoin soaking and softening the 


86 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


foundation, and at length undermining and blowing up 
the lock-gates and walls. The heads of the pile-planks 
should be sawed off very smooth and true after they are 
drove, and a cross-bearer or sleeper is to be nicely fitted 
to them and firmly spiked down : other intermediate 
and parallel sleepers are to be fixed down upon the 
heads of bearing-piles drove for that: purpose, and the 
whole is to be covered, after the intermediate spaces 
are closely filled up with bricks and cement, by very 
sound and nicely jointed planks, that are called the 
sheeting of the lower gates. Upon this sheeting the 
lock-sill i* o be fitted and strongly fixed down ; if the 
canal is wide, or the fall of the lock considerable, this 
ought to be composed of two pieces of oak limber, each 
abutting' against the hollow quoins at one end, and meet¬ 
ing at the other in an angle towards the head of the 
Sock, whence such are often called mitre-sills. A simi¬ 
lar precaution is to be used on the breast of the lock, 
by driving r row or more of good long pile-planks, with 
cross pieces or sleepers, and sheeting for the upper 
gates on which the lock-^ills are to be laid ; as also a 
stout piece of wood, cut to the curve of the breast-wall 
of the lock, to which it is to act as a coping, to prevent 
the keels or stems of the boats from damaging the 
same, it is usual to set out the foundations of the lock- 
wails straight and parallel to each other, (excepting the 
wing-walls or return-walls at the end to keep up the 
earth, and connect with the sloping banks, in the upper 
and lower canals) and when these walls are arrived at 
the height of the floor of the chamber, and sheeting of 
the lower gates, then to begin to natter or slope them 
back to give them greater strength. On the Derby ca¬ 
nal we found the locks 90 feet lung between the goes ; 
the bottom line of the found, t on- s might, and exactly 
14 1-2 feet apart ; as the wafts i isp they are gradually 
battered between the g« es to ;5 eet apart; and m t ie' 
middle between the gad s to 15 1-2 teer, -o that toe cop¬ 
ing of the Walls of the chamber of >hc lock arc curved 
three in h> s towards to b i k; an I all tne bast modern 
locks are constructed on similar ptiuuples. Ho low 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


8 ? 


quoins which are large hewn stones, having a regular 
curved space cut out of one of their angles, are wo ked 
into the walls for the gates to turn in, instead of hinges : 
if good durable free stone is difficult to be procured) the 
hollow quoins may be composed of very large bricks 
made in proper moulds for the purpose ; and in large 
works, a large piece of cast iron of the proper shape to 
work into the wall, is sometimes used instead of quoin- 
stones or bricks, as at the London Docks. The tops of 
all the walls, locks, bridges, or other erections of a ca¬ 
nal, ought to be coped with hewn and well jointed 
stones, and cramped together ; or with large and well 
burnt bricks of the proper shape, having their top an¬ 
gles rounded off, a:*.d set in good cement. Proper but¬ 
tresses of good masonry should be made to the walls of 
the lock behind, to give them greater strength, and to 
tic them more effectually into the bank, and to break, 
the regularity behind, so that if water should leak 
through walls in any particular part, when the locks are 
filled, cr allowed to stand lull longer than is proper, such 
water may not connect together in a large extended 
sheet, to act by its hydrostatic pressure in overturning 
cr bulging in the walls, of which we have read and seen 
so many instances. A proper space behind all the walls 
should be puddled, allowing each course to set effectu¬ 
ally before another is applied ; and provision must be 
made in carrying up the walls, for crooked culverts, 
each of 14 to 20 inches or more in diameter, according 
to the supply of water and dimensions of the luck, call¬ 
ed the puddle-holes, to extend from near the fl jot of 
the chamber of the lock, behind the walls, and lising up, 
so as to return into the lock again behind or above the 
upper gates. A recess is made in each wall above the 
several hollow quoins, large and deep enough for the 
gates to open back into, and remain out of danger from 
barges passing, into or out of the lock. In the recess¬ 
es belonging to the upper gates, a weir or over-fall for 
the water is provided, four or live feet long, having a 
coping or sill of good stones or bricks, just the height 
sit which the water is intended to stand in the uppci 


8S 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


pound or canal ; these are called the fiuddlr-weira or 
lock-necirs ; a large fl<tt stone is usually laid over these, 
leaving three or four inches in height for the stream of 
water, to complete the wa'l upon, and the cavity is con¬ 
ducted down, diminishing In width and enlarging in 
depth behind the walls of the loch, into the puddic-hole, 
or crooked culvert before mentioned. 

The construction of the puddle-holes and weirs de¬ 
serves the particular attention of the engineer, to see 
that they are constructed of the very best bricks, laid in 
good cement, and the same allowed to set thoroughly 
before the canal is filled ; or the rapidity, and frequent 
action of the water in these parts, will wear, under¬ 
mine, and endanger this part of the lock. 

We may proceed now to describe the other appenda¬ 
ges of the lock ; t..ese are the lower gates, which ought 
to be constructed of stout oak framing, the head or 
hinge post of the gate being rounded and nicely fitted 
to the hollow-quoins above described, while the other 
heads are carefully chamfered off, so that when the 
gates are set up in their places, touching the hollow- 
quoins, and the mitre sills, their ch mitered heads shall 
meet and truly fit ; instead of hinges, either a rounded 
part of the bead of the gate, or a strong gudgeon of 
iron at the bottom, is let into a hole provided in the 
stone or timber below, but not fitted thereto so as to 
bind, or prevent the rounded part of the head from being 
pressed closely and uniformity into the hollow-quoin by 
the force of the water; the top of the gate is kept in 
its place by a strong strap of iron which goes round it, 
allowing sufficient space, and is keyed or screwed down 
to a strong cramp or pin in a large stone, which acts as 
a coping to the hollow-quoins. The gates are usually 
planked with deal, sometimes upright, but often in a 
diagonal direction ; and a square hole is left in the 
planking of each lower gate, to which a paddle is a- ' 
dapted, with its stem or rod rising up above the top of 
the gate, by the side of a standard of wood, fixed to the 
top rail or balance beam of the gate in which is a pinion, 
working into*a rock of cast iron on the paddle-stem, 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


89 


ivhieh is turned by a winch-handle, and the paddle isre- 
uined at any height to which it may be drawn, by a 
ratchet or stop, that can readily be turned up to lock in¬ 
to the teeth of the rack, or turned down to discharge and 
Jet down the paddle. The top piece or balance beam is 
usually a tree of considerable dimensions, having its full 
. ize, or biut* end, left unhewed to act as a handle to turn 
the gate round by, and at the same time to balance it, so 
that the front of the gate maj not drag on the sheeting 
at bottom ; but as it would be very difficult thus to bal¬ 
ance large lock-gates, like those at the London Dock 
a roller of brass or cast iron is fixed under the head of 
each gate, and a strong circular sill of wood, or rail of 
cast iron is prepared on the sheeting, for the same to 
roil freely upon, and cause the gate to open and shut 
easily : the height of the roller above mentioned is 
made adjustable by a screw, so. that the gate can at all 
times be kept from dragging on the sheeting : and in¬ 
stead of handles to open such .♦ tea, ropes, and chains, 
and Capstans, erected on the banks for the purpose, ate 
used to ope i and shut them. The upper gates are 
hung and constructed nearly like the lower ones, except 
that they have no paddle-holes in them, and are usually 
boutded no higher than the level of the paddle weirs be¬ 
hind them, in order to assist as weirs in carrying off a 
suptn flaky of water ; but these are often attended with 
bad consequences, the fall of the water wearing, and in 
time damaging the breast of the lock ; and in floods the 
stream or splashing of the water may damage goods in, 
or even endanger the sinking of heavy laden boats, in 
the lock ; the same may aiso happen with deeply {.xlcn 
boats when the paddies 'are drawn in ascending, if the 
paddle holes do not enter the chamber of the lock at 
some distance below the surface of the water and in a 
proper direction : on the Alonmoui/is/iire canal tl e pad¬ 
dle-holes are both united, and discharge themselves 
through the breast of the lock into the chamber ; a' 
practice that seems by no me ms worthy of in nation 
The upp :r paddles, or those behind the upper gin s, 
are d awn by a l aea unci p mon, by means ga u y» mvh■ 


90 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


handle (which each bargeman and lock-keeper carries 
'with him) in the same manner as those in the lower 
gates, which we have described above. Guard-rails or 
curving pieces of timber ought to be strongly bolted on 
to the piles driven for that purpose on the front of the 
wing-walls just above the surface of the water, to guide 
the boats into and out of the locks, without striking the 
walls ; which is far prelerable to the huge stones let in¬ 
to the wing-walls in some places, called bumping- 
stones, and calculated rather lo break and destroy the 
boats than protect the walls. It will be necessary also 
to provide a strong piece of wood formed to the curve 
of the breast-wall of the lock, before which it should be 
suspended a lew inches above the water when the lock 
is empty, by means of two or three chains ; these are 
called bumping-pieces; and are intended to receive the 
stem of the boat, and prevent its striking the wall when 
the same is not strapped or stopped in proper time ; a 
practice, however, for which the bye-laws or clauses of 
the act should provide adequate lines or punishments : 
and strapping posts should be set firmly into the ground 
in the proper places for the bargemen to wind their 
rope, or strap as they call it, and by easing it out by de¬ 
grees, to stop the velocity of the boat before it arrives 
at the gates or breast of the lock that it is entering. 
The gates should also be furnished with two or three 
strong upright planks on the lower side, to receive oc¬ 
casional blows from the noses or stems of the boats, 
and prevent the planks of the gates being broken or 
started thereby. There is room for the skill of the en¬ 
gineer to be exercised, in forming the lock-sills and 
gates to that particular angle ■which will render them 
stronger fo* the same width and depth of lock, than 
they would be if they met more acutely, or were short¬ 
er and met more obtusely. In very large and wide 
locks, the gates should j»ot be straight or plane, but a 
little curving to give them greater strength. On nar¬ 
row canals, it may not be necessary to make double or 
angle gates, but one gate shutting, square across the 
lock mav be strong enough to answer every purpose. 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 9 : 

and be opened more readily than two gates on the op¬ 
posite banks can be $ the upper gates in particular, on 
account of the comparative shallowness if the water 
there, may be single, while the lower gates, of the fall 
is considerable, may be double. In setting out canals, 
where the fall of ground is very gradual and easy, it 
may be necessary to avoid long lengths of deep-cutting 
below, and of embanking above, or making the line ve¬ 
ry crooked, to make shallow locks, if water is plenty ; 
and under the same circumstances only, will it be allow¬ 
able, to make 10, 12, or more feet locks in particular 
places, however well the ground may suit the same ; 
many of these double locks were at first erected, as on 
the old Birmingham canal, and the Calcler and He.bble 
navigation, where about 1783 single locks were obliged 
to be substituted, to avoid the waste of water before 
pointed cut. 

We have not yet noticed an inconvenience and waste 
of water which attend the placingof locks nearer to each 
other than about 100 yards, or having basons between 
them, equal in area to about that length of the canal, as 
was done at .Salter Hebble in 1783 in the alteration a- 
bove mentioned ; without which precaution, a boat in 
descending lets down more water than the pond below 
will hold, without raising its surface so as to loose a good 
deal over the lock-weirs, and still worse happens in as¬ 
cending, for the short pens are so much lowered by fil¬ 
ling the lock below, that laden boats are unable to pro¬ 
ceed for want of water, until a supply islet down to 
waste, through the upper locks, to help them forwards. 
As many locks as can conveniently be brought near to 
each other, on the principles above, and before explain¬ 
ed, should be contrived, if it can be done, to be in sight 
of each other, end of a length of canal each way ; and 
the lock-keeper’s house should be so placed, that he 
can when at home at his meals, or otherwise, in bad 
weather, see boats approaching the locks, in time to 
meet them before they enter the locks. 

Mr. Robert Fulton who wrote in 1796 says, that the 
cost of locks for 25 ton boats, was about £70 per foot 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


52 

rise, and for 40 ton boats, about C 100 per foot rise ; this 
may serve to give some general idea of the cost of locks 
at that time; but we would observe that the decrease* 
cf the value of money, and the exceptions to all general 
rules on these subjects are so many, no dependence 
ought to be placed on such modes of estimating. If 
sufficient water-way is given in the paddles, and there 
is assistance enough to draw both the paddles, and open 
and shut the gates at the same instant, a boat may pass 
each lock of the usual construction and rise, in three 
minutes, but in general 5 i-2 minutes will be nearer to 
the average time lost at each lock, as observed by Mr. 
Bevan on the Grand Junction canal. Theorems for the 
time of filling a lock of given dimensions, and with gi¬ 
ven paddies and fall of water, should be found and com¬ 
pared with many experiments on the locks under the 
care of our resident engineers It should be consider¬ 
ed that a boat going up lets down or consumes twice the 
weight thereof (boat and cargo included) in water, 
moi e than in going down through each lock ; for the 
boat on entering the empty lock, expels as much water 
into the lower reaches its own draft of water, which is 
made good out of the upper pound when the boat enters 
the same ; while a descending boat expels its own fl na¬ 
tion bulk of water from the full lock into the upper 
pound, where iti<s retained on the shu ting of the upyer 
gates ; the mean of a passage each way will be a lock- 
full for each boat, unless they go always loaded one way, 
and empty the other. Mr. Fulton says, that the con¬ 
sumption of 25 ton boats through eight feet locks, will 
in general be about 163 tons of water in ascending, and 
103 tons in descending ; and Mr. Chafiman informs us, 
that boats passing and repassing a summit, laden one 
way and returning empty, will require nea ly 13 times 
the weight of theii hdingol water for their lockage, out 
©f the summit pound Seven hundred ions of lading 
per day are as much as pass or repass upon any one of 
our canals, according to Mr. Fulton. 

We cannot with propriety quit the subject of con¬ 
structing locks, without, mentioning coffjr-Jams-, which 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


93 


are a double range of p'les drove very close to each other 
in a circular form refund tne mouth ofany canal or dock, 
that is to have a lock built, repaired, or altered, connect¬ 
ing with the sea, a river or any existing navigation that 
cannot be emptied of its water ; the interval between 
the piles being filled with earth, the water in the space 
between the coffer-dam and the intended works is then 
pumped out for the works to proceed ; the many and 
fatal accidents to which these are liable, especially when 
the works are nearly completed, and the earth is exca¬ 
vating from the bottoms to open the passage freely to 
the lock or works, require all the precautions, skill, and 
attention of the most able engineers, especially when the 
rise and fall of the tides or waves of the ocean, present 
unequal action on the piles or dam. 



CHAP. X. 

TOWING-PATHy OUGHT 1 7*0 BE ON 7"HE LOWER SIDE OF 
THE CANAL. SHOULD NOT 3 BE USED TO DRIVE CA7 
TLE ON. IT’S HEIGHT AND BREAB7’II FENCING A 
CANAL. SWING-GATES , CYLINDERS OR FRICTION ROL¬ 
LERS. REPAIRING CANALS. DES TRUC TlON OF R A TS f 
MOLES AND HURTFUL PLANTS. METHOD OF REPAI¬ 
RING A BROKEN BANK. STOPPING LEAKS. CAMP- 
SHEETING. CLEARING CANAL OF SEDIMENT OR DE¬ 
POSIT. 

T HE towing-fiatk, horse-path, or hauling-wav, of a 
canal, should always be on the lower side if prac¬ 
ticable, the travel on the same having a tendency to con¬ 
solidate the new made bank, to prevent the accumula¬ 
tion of weeds and the harbor of veimin, that by lodging 
in and perforating the bank might endanger the same. 
The towing-path should change as little as possible from 
one side of the canal to the other, and when this is una- 


94 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


vciliable, it should be always done at some fixed bridge, 
to avoid the inconveniencies of fording the canal ; the 
change ought never to be made in deep-cuuing, . s has 
been done near i ring on toe Grand Junction The 
towing-path ought never to be inienupted if the same 
can be avoid*. d ; and. besides having way under all 
bridges (except those vv here a change of sides is lobe 
made) we hope to seethe example followed which has 
been set at Ate ham on the Shrewsbury , and Nevvbold on 
the Oxford canals, of continuing the towing-path through 
the tunnels, wherever the same shall appear practicable. 
On the proposed Budeand Launceston cam ), it was inten¬ 
ded to form a tow ing-p^th on both sides ; a hint that may 
prove very useful in some situations of greater traffic, 
than there ever was likely to be on this canal. Fre¬ 
quently permission is given to persons to use the tow¬ 
ing path as a foot path or bridle road, and we think it 
would in some instances be proper to obtain the power 
of levying a small toll on horse passengers; if the com¬ 
pany snould at any future time see it light by public no¬ 
tice to permit their towing-path to be so used. It seems 
inapplicable to the purposes of a towing-path, to make 
public drift* ways of them in any case, on account of the 
damage which loose cattle would do to the banks and 
fences, and the impediments which droves of cattle 
would present to the hauling horses and lines. In for¬ 
ming the towing-path, care must be taken to make the 
ground sound, and to cover it with a proper thickness of 
good grave! ; and we cannot but recommend the raking 
or sorting of this as i: is laid on, throwing the large or 
irregular stones forward to be covered with better gra¬ 
vel, so that the surface may be smooth and even, with¬ 
out rough and large stones to throw the horses down, 
and render the use of the path unpleasant. The height 
of the towing-path ought not to be less than one foot, or 
more than two or three feet above the surface of the 
water, or top-water line, and it should be of sufficient 
width to allow the towing-horses, when they meet, to 
pass each other freely and without inconvenience. The 
fencing of the sides of a canal is a business deserving of 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION, 


95 


more attention than has been usually paid to the same. 
Quick-set or other line-fences ought by all means to be 
made, except in the case of a rocky country, where good 
and durable walls cm be built at an easy expense : rail 
or pale fences are very improper., except in and near 
towns, on account of their heavy expense in repairs,— 
Through common fields or very, large pastures, (in si¬ 
tuations where tlie can e banks are such, as that cattle 
wou d not be likely to injure them,) it is sometimes 
not necess ry to fence off t : e towing-path therefrom, 
bin at the bound -ies ot entry lo such fields, a gate is 
placed across the towing-path, to prevent the intermix¬ 
ture or esc pe of the c.,til , and generally these gates 
are double, falling rather toreioiy towards each other, 
by which construe lion the cattle arc prevented from 
pushing, or the wind fiord blowing open the gates, as 
wou hi otherwise often happen At the termination of 
every p mcipai estate f m that adj -ins the towing- 
path, u is usual to place a swing-gate across the same 
to prevent cattle getting away, in case they should 
break, or by accident get into the towing path. Cylin¬ 
ders (or frivnion roders made of hard wood, about an 
inch and a naif or two inches in di.ime.ter and of suffi¬ 
cient length,) snoulc be placed against each of these 
gucs t r me towing-line 10 run upon; and side-rails 
snould be placed inclining up to the top of the posts to 
assist the towing-rope in gi iting over the same. These 
cylinders will be found useful, by preserving the towing- 
rope from being worn out and destroyed, in all situa¬ 
tions where the towing rope would otherwise be-drawn 
against the abutments of bridges or other erections on 
the cmal. 

On the repairing of Canals , we think it necessary to 
make a few observations ; and to begin by recommend¬ 
ing the adoption of a system of management, by which 
the earliest notice of any defect, or want of reparation, 
will be obtained : that in store-houses, at proper pla¬ 
ces on the line, a stock of o«k, elm, and deal timber 
should constantly be kep f , cut and seasoned, ready for 
replacing any of the timbers or planKS in the locks or o- 


96 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


ther works, with the least possible delay to the trade „ 
a circumstance which, if not attended to, may prove of 
incalculable injury to the credit and success of the con¬ 
cern Sound and good bricks and stones, ready for re¬ 
placing any which .. e ii. hie, or observed to be likely to 
\vant iepair should also he in re.ciness/andjgood cement 
should be always m pi on lure, on some part of the line, 
from whence tot quatnitv wanted may be speedily 
transported to urn part w ere a repar lion of the walls, 
bridges, cul erts. fccc .,y requite the same : however, 
before emptying a.o part *>i the canal, or interrupting 
the trade ior any ieparain n a strict search should be 
made throughout every pan in that level, or on the ad¬ 
joining ones, to discover all the defects therein, that ar¬ 
rangements may he made beforehand for repairing the 
whole at once, or with as little delay as possible, while 
the trade is interrupted on the line. In every store¬ 
house a considerable number of the fule-planka before 
described should be kept piled up in readiness, for ma¬ 
king temporary stanks or dams, in order to empty any 
particular part of a level, which may have a culvert, 
trunk, sluice,or stop-gate, lock-sill, or other thing which 
is damaged, cut of order, or decayed. It is surprising, 
to those who have not seen such works performed be¬ 
fore, with what facility the workmen who are used to 
this business will drive two rows of pile-planks so regu¬ 
lar and close to each other, that by the help of the tongues 
or slips in their grooves, and often without, a tight stank 
is made without any earth or other loose matters to stop 
the water; and between two of these stanks, if such are 
necessary, they will empty the water by chain-pumps, 
or water screws, to get at any culvert, or other matter, 
to be repaired or altered ; there have been instances of 
these operations being performed and of the part being 
filled with water, and the pile planks drawn up again 
for tlie trade to pass, in the space of eight or nine hours. 
Should any part of the canal appear to want new lii : tg 
or pudding, owing to a neglect at the time of making 
the canal, or to any subsequent accident, care should be 
taken to choose the time for such woiks, when the 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


r: 

u*ade can best bear an interruption ; and as, on the ave- 
rage of seasons, the trade is two or three weeks inter¬ 
rupted by ice, during the months of January and Feb¬ 
ruary, it may not be amiss to embrace that period, on 
some occasions, although it will take longer to perform 
the work, and some additional expense may be incurred 
by covering up the work with earth before it is left at; 
night to prevent its freezing, and in removing all such 
puddle, 2kc. again in the morning, or at beginning work, 
which shall be found frozen. Previous and explicit no¬ 
tices should be given of all intended interruptions to the 
trade, as long beforehand as is necessary, to enable the 
traders to supply stocks of articles at the places of con¬ 
sumption on the line, and to avoid having their boats 
locked in, and perhaps lying idle, when they might have 
been employed if they had been on a different part of the 
canal. 

It is an essential point of good management to have 
experienced mole and rat-catchers employed from time 
to time upon the line of a canal, to extirpate those hurt¬ 
ful vermin; and in every instance of discovering one, to 
trace out all his burrows and holes, and have them care¬ 
fully stopped up and filled in every part, as well for pre¬ 
venting the harboring of other animals of the same sort, 
as for preventing the water from making its way into 
and through them. On a canal in Surry, we are told 
by Mr. Robert Marshall , in his examination of a ca¬ 
nal and rail-way, &c that a mole or rat hole only, occa¬ 
sioned, after the hard frost of 1795, the rupture of the 
canal, in a high embankment, by which more than 100 
yaids in length of a lofty bank was precipitated into the 
meadows and river below, and that a boat which before 
lay enveloped in the ice on the canal, was hurried down 
through this gulph into the river 1 It is impossible to 
take too much care against such fatal disasters as these, 
and the dmy of the indie and rat-catchers ought not to 
be limited to the company’s ground, but in all fields, 
banks, ponds, or brooks within 100 yards or more of the 
canal, on each side, they ought to be equally attentive 
to the destruction of such vermin, and the demolishing 


98 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


of their secret retreats. The same men might very 
properly be employed in pi lling up and extirpating all 
large and spreading weeds fromevei y part of the banks 
of the canal, and in mowing down the herbage occasion¬ 
ally ; these circumstances being not less essential for 
the neatness and beauty of the canal, than to prevent 
the first harbor of vermin of different kinds The 
banks of the canal will be very apt to continual wear at 
the surface of the water, and for some height above 
and below that level, if a proper kind of herbage is not 
encouraged upon the slope of the bank ; considerable 
care should lie token to suffer no plants to take root on 
or near a canal bank, or spread its seed, (if possible to 
prevent it where water is taken into ti c canal by a feed¬ 
er), which will grow in deep water, or whose roots are 
large, hollow, and strike deep into the ground, lest the 
former of these should choke the canal in time by weed 
beds and the latter render it leaky by the formation of 
numerous open tubes through th* lining into porous 
stuff. None but those who have seen many drains or 
new ditches opened in wet and boggy ground, can be a- 
ware of the depth, size, and number of hollow roots, 
which some of the aquatic plan s. as the equiaelum fia - 
iustre , or marsh horse-tail, the iris fisendacGrus , or yel¬ 
low Hag, and several Gibers, send forth into the ground. 

Puddle-ditches in the bar ks ihat are raised or made 
up are a great security against the bank being washed 
down, in case of the water, risen by any sudden thun¬ 
der shower, or other inordinate rain, breaking over the 
top of it; as soon as tin. puddle is reached, the effect of 
the stream to tear and lower the bank will often be stop¬ 
ped ; for good puddle, when pvopci .y set and hardened 
in the centre oi a bank, is so compact us not to be liable 
t > be abraded or suddenly worn by a current of water.—. 
In cased tne breaking or slipping cl a bank, so that a 
consult ruble arid wide breach is fbr'nud. and stili increa¬ 


sing, it is a good practi ce to drive in two ro'vvs of com¬ 
mon fojd hurdles at a foot or less apart, lashing the same 
Well together by herds, and securing them by strong 
tiakes drove uwwu beaind them, and it the stream of 


internal naviGAT i on. 


99 


water be deep through the breach, it will be necessary 
to drive other long stakes obliquely inlo the ground, and 
securing their tops to the hurdles and upright stakes by 
laps of cord, that these last may act as struts or props to 
prevent the whole from being borae away : into the ca¬ 
vity between the hurdles, straw or stubble should then 
be put and trod down, beginning at each end and work¬ 
ing towards the middle, in order to prevent the current 
being turned, with fresh impetuosity, against the sides 
of the breach ; such a dam as this will prevent the loss 
of any considerable further quantity of water, and will 
render the water stagnant, so that a row or more of pile- 
planks can be drove to cut off the connection with the 
breach, which can then be emptied of water, the hur¬ 
dles and straw removed, and the reparation begun, with 
proper puddle-ditches for its security, as before descri¬ 
bed. At the famous Dagenham breach of the embank¬ 
ment of the Thames , dove-tail or plank-piles were used, 
we are told. 

Teaks in a canal may sometimes be stopped without 
emptying the water, if the depth will permit it by pre- 
p tring good puddle in a flat bottomed dirt-boat or flat, 
and dropping the same in spade-foils equally over the 
surface, and when a certain length is done, raking the 
same about with a rake with short teeth, to join the pie¬ 
ces together, and level the bottom. The difference in 
specific gravity in different loams and earths, is so consi¬ 
derable as to make some of them much more proper 
for the lining and facing a canal than others ; the hea¬ 
viest that can be found should be used when leaks are 
to be stopped, and the water remain in the canal as a- 
bove. We have passed along the branch of a canal on 
a chalk soil, where the lining of the bottom was so light, 
that the motion of the barge stirred enough of it up in¬ 
to the water, which was before nearly clear, to make it 
almost as white as milk behind us; this light stuff has 
since been taken out and a substantial lining and facing 
of proper stuff, brought in barges for the purpose, and 
laid on the bank before the water was let out, has been 
applied, by an able engineer, who succeeded those of too 




100 INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 






different a description who constructed this very leaky 
branch. 

It will be necessary to defend many places of the 
banks of r canal that are obliged to be unusually steep, 
as in the approach to a bridge or locks a wharf. Sec. with 
a facing of planks, called cainfi-shecting; this consists 
of strong piles driven into the bottom of the canal, with 
the proper ilope or inclination, with horizontal pieces, 
or land ties to their tops, on which pile3, sound and du¬ 
rable planks are spiked. 

In some places, owing to the accidental or unavoida¬ 
ble admi?&ion of very thick water into a canal, or in more 
cases by the ordinary deposit in length of time, the ca¬ 
nal will become choked with mud. In these cases a 
machine with buckets, like a chain-pump, to scrape ihe 
bottom of the canal, and afterwards discharge the load 
ef mud into a barge, might be used, such a machine, 
worked by horses, being now in use in the West India 
Docks, 


CHAP. XL 

DRAINING, ITS VARIOUS OPERATION S . CON S 7'R UC T10 N 

of bo. ar.?; if to move fas?, should not be one 

THIRD AS IF IDE AS THE CANAL. SHAPE OF THE 

HEAD . FLA.T-IJE\DED AND with rectangular ENDS 
ought not to be towed fast, mules used on 
Bridgewater's canal. rate of towing per 

HOUR. REMARK AND NOTE RESPECTING THE WEIGrhT 

a uicu can by. Towed on a canal. 

D RAINING is a business of which a canal compa¬ 
ny will have a good deal to perform in most ca- 
^es. Soon after a canal is filled with water, and often 
sooner on the upper side, owing to the course of the 
hind-springs, and those of a more permanent character 


lot 


' \ TEft N A L NAY IG AT ION, 


oeing intercepted by the puddle-ditches, wet places wil 
appear on the land, which, would, if neglected, become 
unfit for cultivation : these are often of considerable ex¬ 
tent below the canal; and the committee of the canal 
company must not be surprised at hearing the fahmeis 
attribute many wet places in such situations, to the 
soakage of their canal, that really are not affected there¬ 
by. It would be of use, and the source of much satis¬ 
faction, if the resident engineer were to note down in 
his book all the wet and springy places that appeared on 
the sloping land, below the level of the canal for a con¬ 
siderable distance, and the condition or run of water 
from each before the canal was made ; because the ap¬ 
pearance of new quelches, as the farmers in many pla¬ 
ces call them, or the increase or enlargement of others, 
is often the first and only indication of an increasing 
and hurtful leak from the canal. The committee should 
not be nice in drawing the line, as to the extent of drai¬ 
ning which they order to be done ; but it would, on the 
contrary, be highly to the credit of their concern, and 
the interest of future canal schemes, to bear the whole 
or a portion of the expense of effectually draining all 
the land, whose wetness could, even in mistaken preju¬ 
dice, be ascribed to their canal. The execution of these 
operations ought not to be confined to the quackery cl 
boring a hole here and there in a trench, without any 
theory or meaning ; but the resident engineer or some 
professional man employed expressly for the purpose, 
should, by a judicious application of his experience and 
knowledge of the stratum every place, apply that parti¬ 
cular method of draining, as to the situation and depth 


of the drains. See. which every spot may require. And 
these operations are more various and important than 
any person, who lias not made the subject his particular 
study, can possibly be hware-of. There is a danger at¬ 
tending drains made near o canal, from rats or moles 
working their way unobserved beneath the surface, be¬ 
tween the drain and the canal ; for detecting which, or 
other leaks, it will be proper for the engineer to eater 
in his book a minute desc iptlon of the situation of the 


K 2 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


5-02 

mouth or vent of every drain, choosing situations for the 
same, when they are made, in ditches, where they can 
be readily got at, and not be liable to be damaged by 
time, or the treading of cattle. The length a»d direc¬ 
tion of every branch of under-drain which vents at that 
mouth, should be noted down, and the quantity of water 
which the drain discharges should also be carefully esti¬ 
mated, at some short distance of time after the same is 
finished ; and a regular and periodical inspection of 
these drain-mouths by the engineer with his book in his 
hand should be made, by which any secret leak could 
hardly fail of being detected. It is almost unnecessary 
to point out the importance of an attention to these cir¬ 
cumstances, in situations where water is very scarce. 

The construction of Boats for canals requires some 
notice in this place. Mr. Chafiman y who has given 
some excellent directions respecting the form of boats 
least liable to overset or be injured by heeling, has very 
properly observed ( Observations p. 102.), that the 
area of a cross section, of a boat to be used ©n a canal, 
ought not to approach so near to the area of a cross sec¬ 
tion of the water in the canal as l to 3, or considerable 
inconvenience will arise, both from the increased re¬ 
sistance of the boat, and the damage to the banks, from 
the counter current to fill u-p the space the boat leaves 
in her rear. 1 his circumstance requires particular at¬ 
tention, particularly in boats that are to move quick, like 
the passage boats from Manchester and Paddington, on 
the Bridewater^s and the Grand Junction canals : in the 
former of the?e* we observed a constant elevation of the 
water before the passage-boat, as it moved along, of at 
least 9 inches, and perhaps more than a foot at times ; 
and the rapidity with which the water run backwards, 
between the boat and the sides of the canal, appeared 
to have a most destructive effect upon the latter, parti¬ 
cularly on the towing-path side ; and often this was laid 
quite under water, for considerable distances together, 
uy the surge or wave opposite to the head of the boat 
as it. passed along : while the labor of towing was most 
materially increased.. We regret that we had not the 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


103 


means of ascertaining how much the head of the boat 
was elevated upon this artificial wave in the general, and 
up which inclination the towing-mules were constantly 
drawing it. Some attention ought to be paid to the form 
of the head and fore part of the boat, (if it is designed 
for quick passage,) with a view to its letting the water 
pass freely off by its side : flat-headed boats, and those 
whose ends are rectangular in particular, ought not to 
be towed fast, or great loss of labor and damage to the 
banks will be the consequence, unless the canal is very 
wide and deep. 

Horses are now, in genera], used for towing boats on 
our canals, except the late Duke of Bridgewater’s , who 
reared a large and fine herd of mules, that were found 
to answer so well, that none others are used to this day, 
we believe, on that canal. Except with passage-boats, 
and flies or packet-boats, for the expeditious conveyance 
of packages and parcels, the usual r^teof towing upon 
our canals is about two and a half miles per hour, in¬ 
cluding the time lost in passing the locks, which, if of 
eight feet lift or rise, will require about five and a half 
minutes each. It is certain that there is hardly any li¬ 
mit to the lead, which one horse can move, in a number 
of barges attached together, when going with apropor- 
tionably slow pace ; and this has occasioned some canal 
advocates to assert that one horse will, on a canal, draw 
as much as sixty on the road.* 


* Mr. Gallatin, (see his Report , p. 49, in the latter part of 
this volume,) speaking of the transportation on the Middlesex 
canal, states, that “eight hundred tons of timber, has been 
drawn by two oxen, part of the way, at the rate of one mile in 
an hour.” The Middlesex canal is about 27 miles long ; there¬ 
fore, at the rate above mentioned, excluding the time of passing 
the locks, the two oxen, by laboring 9 hours per day, would 
transport 800 tons of timber 27 miles, the whole length of the 
canal, in 3 days. 

How long a time would it require, for two oxen to trans¬ 
port, by land, an equal weight ? Making a reasonable allow¬ 
ance for bad weather, and bad roads at the breaking up of 
winter, &c and excluding 52 sabbaths, it is not believed they 
would be able to labor, on an average, more than 200 days in 






INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


:o4 


CHAP. XII. 


GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF A CANAL. APPOINTMENT 
OF SUBORDINATE OFFICERS. GAUGES. CANAL REG¬ 
ULATIONS TO BE PRINTED AND PUT UP. OFFENCES , 

hop/ noticed. Tonnage Tables, weighing-house. 

GAUGING AND MARKING THE TONNAGE OF BOATS .- 

Tonnage regulations/ raising sunk boat's .— 
regulations for the management of BOATS , AND 
FOR FASSING T'HF LOCKS. RATES OF TOLL. 

N the general management and office department, 



of a canal concern, it is unnecessary to make ma¬ 
ny observations. The committee with which the con¬ 
duct of it is entrusted will, without doubt, direct their 
attention to those various circumstances on which its 
prosperity depends. Accordingly, they will appoint 
proper officers in the several subordinate departments, 
and give, them such instructions for the regular dis¬ 
charge of their duty as occasion may require. It may 
not, however, be improper to suggest, that the canal 
committees should direct their resident engineer to es¬ 
tablish proper rain and evaporation gauges at several 
lock-houses upon the line, to be kept by the lock-keep¬ 
ers, and registered daily or weekly with great care: 
these observations, preserved in the company’s books, or, 
what would be better, published in some of the maga¬ 
zines, would prove of great advantage to science, and to 
canal undertakings in general In canals of considera¬ 
ble length, particularly if some pans of them are indif- 
feiently ancl variably supplied with water, or leaky, it 


a year, and that they could not transport a ton 27 miles, and 
return again for another load, in less than two days. This sup¬ 
position is, probably, much beyond what they could actually 
accomplish ; and yet, at this rate, only 100 tons would be 
transported yearly, and it would, consequently, require the 
labor of two oxen eight year t, or 2920 days, to perform the re¬ 
quired work. 






INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


105 


will be right to fix gauges or graduated rods on each up¬ 
per lock-gate, that would shew at all times how many 
inches depth of water there is at the time, in the shal¬ 
lowest part of that pound ; and to cause the lock-keep¬ 
ers to mention the same at the foot of the punted per¬ 
mits or pass-tickets, that the toll-clerks should give to 
every bargeman who passes, containing the number 
and description of each barge, and the description and 
weight of its loading ; these, transmitted regularly to 
the toll collector, would enable him, or some other per¬ 
son, to keep for the information of the committee, a re ¬ 
gister of the daily state of each long or leaky pond of 
water ; at the same time that the lock-keepers, toil- 
clerks, &c. at each extremity, and on different points of 
the canal, would always be acquainted with the state of 
the water, and the loading which a barge could pass with 
at every particular place ; and could inform bargemen ; 
for want of which knowledge great delay and expense 
arc often incurred, in dry seasons, by setting off with 
more lading than can be carried through, for want of a 
sufficient depth of water, and part of the same is obliged 
to be left on the road, or taken into other boats. Aft 
the regulations contained in the act, for working of the 
canal, and such by-laws as the committee may see it ne¬ 
cessary to make, for regulating t.he conduct of the 
bargemen and others on the canal, should be printed, 
and stuck up at every wharf on the canal, and in every 
toll-cleik and lock keeper’s house ; and all the compa¬ 
ny’s agents and servants should be strictly enjoined to 
notice every breach of laws and regulations, not by al¬ 
tercation with the offenders, but by immediately noting 
down in writing the exact and true particulars of the 
lime, place, and name of the offenders and bye-standers 
or witnesses, &c. transmitting the same immediately 
to the committee, and preserving a copy thereof them¬ 
selves : and, though we are far from recommending 
severity in punishing on these occasions, yet a system 
of this sort, by shewing the offenders that the commit¬ 
tee would always be prepared to proceed against them, 
would, in most instances, especially if the parties were 


106 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


ft 


written to* to threaten them, go a great w-.iy to prevent 
the same parties or ot'.ers from offending ag iin. 

Tonnage Tables , fully and explicitly stating the toll 
or tonnage payable to the company, on goods or articles 
of every different kind, or on different parts of the line, 
if. as often happens, these vary, should he printed and 
stuck up on all the wharves and tollhouses, tor pre¬ 
venting s.11 doubts or altercations between the compa¬ 
ny’s servants and the traders At some convenient 
place on the line of the canal, a weighing-house should 
be prepared, consisting cf a dock under cover, large and 
deep enough to contain the largest vessels which are to 
navigate the canal ; this clock should be furnished with 
a draw-gate to let clown, or doors to shut, when an emp¬ 
ty barge has entered, in order to render the water quite 
still within the dock. 

Cast iron or leaden weights of 2 cwt. each should be 
provided, and a crane to heist the weights readily in or 
out of the barge, and place them in any part of the 
same, so as always to load her evenly. To this weigh¬ 
ing-house, tne act or by-laws should require every boat 
>0 be sent, having the name thereof, and the owner’s 
name and residence previously painted on the stem of 
it, before it is allowed to tiade on the canal : the empty 
boat being arrived in the dock, the gauging master fixes 
four small plates of iron, each containing the number 
ihat this barge is in future to be distinguished by, two 
on one side and two on the other, against the gunwale, 
near the head and stern. These plates are all fixed at 
the same distance from the surface of the water, when 
the barge is empty ; this distance, in inches and tenths, 
is entered into the gauging-master’s book, under the 
number of the barge, name, owner’s name and resi¬ 
dence, date, and other particulars ; two tons of weights 
are then hoisted into the barge, and regulated until the 
distance from ail the four plates to the water’s surface is 
the same, which distance in inches and tenths is also en¬ 
tered in the book again 1 * two tons ; two tons more of 
weights are then hoisted in and adjusted, and the height 
of the number-plates above the water is taken and eo- 


INTERNAL navigation. 


;o 7 


rcred against four tons as before ; ihesc operations be¬ 
ing repeated until the utmost lading of the barge is on 
board, when the weights are taken out again, and. the 
barge removed from the dock. For measuring the 
height of the plates at the Packlingt n weighing-house, a 
tin tube is used, that is furnished with a float moving 
freely in it, to mark the surface of the water, which car¬ 
ries a light s ? ick grauu ted to inches and tenths, to shew 
the height of the number-plate against which it is ap¬ 
plied At every toll house on the Grand Junction ca¬ 
nal, similar floating ocJs a»e kept, and to every laden 
barge which passes, this gauge is applied against the 
numbei-plate, at each end, and to those on the other 
side, if the barge appears to heel at all to cither side. 
If the dry incites and tenths shewn by the gauge, be¬ 
tween the number-plate and the WuieFs surface, are 
different, they are added together, and divided by the 
number of them for the mean height. It is the busi¬ 
ness of the gauging-msstei to calculate, from the par¬ 
ticulars entered in his book * f each barge as above, the 
weight to^the nearest of 1-4 of a ton, which answers to 
every inch .nd tenth of an inch, of the dry inches shewn 
as above by the gaug ; the numbei of the barges are 
applied in a regular series in tnc order in which they 
come to be gauged ; and a book, containing a table for 
the tonnage on board, answering* to every dry inch and 
tenth, as‘ above is calculated, and a copy of each is in 
the possession of e. ch toil-clerk, by a reference to 
which, he sees, and enters in his toll-book, and in the 
pass'ticket or permit, the number of tons and quarters 
for which tonnage is to lie paid to the company. On a 
great number of canals the practice is different ; tha 
g; uging-master prepares four s ips of copper or lead, 
about three-fourths of an inch broad, and one eighth 
thick- and stumps thereon at every division answering 
to two tons, agreeable to the observations entered in his 
book, and between these, strokes are drawn to mark the 
intermediate t ms and quarters of a ton. These plates 
he sees carefully nailed on the sides of the barge, un¬ 
der the number-plate ; by help of which, the toll-clerk, 


108 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


and the barge-man also, can at any time see the tonnage 
on board, by the place on the plates cut by tin w teiVs 
surface. 

Most acts contain a provision resoe^ting barges occa¬ 
sionally navigating a can'd-or m others where reason 
appears to the toll-clerk ms sp ct a deception or fraud, 
for requiring the bargeman to give an accurate account of 
his lading onboard; which if unsatisfactory, the toll clo*k 
may take such barge to the nearest wharf where accu¬ 
se scales, steel yards, or engines for weighing goods 
are kept, and there have the car -o unloaded and weigh¬ 
ed ; which expense, as wed as penalty the bargeman is 
made to pay, if he had refused or neglected to give an 
account of his lading, or if his account so given shall 
prove below the real weight of the goods. New barges 
are usually indulged, in two or three voyages, before 
they are gauged, in order the better to suit the barge¬ 
man’s and gauging-master’s convenier.ee for doing it, 
during which they are subject to have their goods weigh¬ 
ed, as they also are, whenever they have different goods 
on board, liable to different rates of tonnage, atid do not 
give a satisfactory account of the weight of each. 

A clause will be necessary, to punish persons who are 
found throwing ballast or any kind ot soil overboard or 
into the canal, by which it might be choaked up : it wiil 
also be requisite, strictly to prohibit the throwing of 
loose stuff, as chalk, gravel, sand, &c. by means of sho¬ 
vels from heaps or barrows on the bank, into the barge, 
unless a broad and close stage of boards was first laid to 
catch the stuff, which will unavoidably scatter, and to 
prevent its falling into the canal. 

Necessary tackle should be kept in readiness, for 
weighing up such barges as are sunk, without delay, on 
account of the total interruption that such will often oc¬ 
casion to the navigation. Where a sunk barge lies so 
that another barge can be floated on each side of it, the 
following method maybe adopted: chains should be 
looped round the sunk barge and hooked, having four 
et.ua of sufficient length proceeding from near the four 
corners of the barge, two empty barges should be brought, 


3 NTERN A L NA V l 1 , AT ION. 


•lie to each side of the sunk one, and strong beams of 
timber be laid across each of these barges, and the space 
between them ; water should then be admitted into 
each of the barges by their plugs, to sink them almost 
to the water’s surface, the plugs should then be put in, 
and the four chains be fasten d tight to the cross beams, 
when a pump should be used in each of the barges to 
throw cut the wue* and this is accomplished if the 
chains are properly fixed he barge will be buoyed up, 
often to the surface of tb ; v, ater, so that she may be freed 
by pumping her; if no she must beir/oved along, sus» 
pended between the light barges, to some strong crane, 
where she c vn be further assisted,or in some dock or shal¬ 
low place, where she can be relieved by a repetition of 
the same process. 

Several further regulation# for 'working of canals re¬ 
main yet to be mentioned They arc- such as relate to 
the penalties that should be ptoviu d in the act or 
by-laws, for preventing bargem n from t iking in above 
n certain weight, adapted to the size of their boat and the 
depth of the canal; and also f ><’ preventing such boaia 
from damaging the lock-shis or bottom 01 the canal, or 
sticking fast to the interruption of other boats. The na¬ 
ture of the lading and the msn mt of disposing it in me 
boat, so that the sides of the bridges, kc may not be in¬ 
jured should be duly attended to. Penalties should be 
provided to punish those bargemen wno uff r their 
boats to strike against any ol the locks or midges, or 
those who suffer their barge to lie either for unloading 
or any other purpose so as to obstruct the passage of o- 
ther boats- In some acts this penalty is fixed, by the 
hours that such inteii 'ion coniimcs, and at an Increa¬ 
sing rale. Bonts left w iarves or older place, on or 
by the line of the canal, sn- u.kl o*. moored a* both their 
ends. Bargemen shod’ he prohibited from fishing or 
having tackie for su : • pmp sp un h ard. it should be 
provided, and made known byihe by-'iws, that barges 
or vessels going one parti- ui r w y on the line, and on 
each of the brancl es shout give v. ,v for those *b*y 
tt .tor have occasion a pass; and oh licnow Caiicu* qt 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


i i© 

branches, it should be provided, that when two boats 
that are meeting each other first come in sight, or one 
of them hails the other, that which is nearest to a pas¬ 
sing place, shall stop at or go back to the same to let the 
other pass. Common trading barges and vessels, and 
all others, should be prohibited from passing any locus 
or moving along the canal except in the day time, and 
for this purpose it is usual to divide the months of the 
year into three or four portions, and to specify the hour 
both morning and evening in each, between which the 
canal is to be open. Light boats, for the conveyance of 
market goods, parcels, &c. are allowed on some canals, 
as the Grand Junction , to pass on during the night, their 
owner paying a specified sum for a licence for such pri¬ 
vilege, engaging to employ the most careful and expe¬ 
rienced boatmen, and to make good all damage which 
such boats may do to the works of the canal, or to the 
barges or propeity of other traders. Mr. Thomas 
Tickford the great waggon proprietor, has substituted 
boats in place of many of his waggons, and which tra¬ 
vel night and day, and arrive in London with as much 
punctuality from the midland and some of the most dis¬ 
tant parts of the kingdom, as the waggons do. 

A lew of our tunnels are constructed wide enough for 
tv.o wide barges to pass each other therein ; it may be¬ 
come necessary, in such cases, where the tunnels are 
long, to establish an overseer at each end of the tunnel, 
where a bason of sufficient dimensions for several boats 
to lie and pass should be provided, to suffer no barges to 
enter at either end for an hour, or other period, or until 
the last boat from the other end is come out, to prevent 
wide ones meeting others in the tunnel. If the number 
of wide boats be very small in proportion to the narrow 
ones, the periods for the entry of narrow boats may be 
oftenest repeated, and wide boats might, in extreme ca¬ 
sts be oniy suffered to pass the tunnel between the two 
basons after dark in the evening when the other boats 
are tying still on the canal. 

Gentlemen'^ pie sure boats, and narrow short hus¬ 
bandry boats, tor me use ol the occupiers of the lands on 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


ill 


each pound, are often allowed at very easy rates, if not 
quite free of tolls ; and sometimes such as well as any 
other boats'laden with manures and road materials, are 
allowed to pass the locks on the same conditions, at such 
times only as the water runs over the lock-weirs, 01 is 
within a very small quantity) as iiidf an inch of that 
height. 

The regulations for vessels ficissing the locks , are usu¬ 
ally very explicit in canal acts, that boatmen may not 
suffer the water to remain in the locks longer than is 
necessary for their boats to pass ; that every boatman 
in going down a canal, shall, previous to his bringing 
his boat into any lock, shut the lower gates of such lock 
and the doughs thereto belonging, before he shall draw 
the doughs of the upper gates ; anil, after he .shall have 
brought such boat through the lock, he shall then shut 
the upper gates, before he shall draw the doughs of the 
lower gates, and in going up the canal, such boatmen, 
as soon as he shall have passed his boat through the lock, 
shall shut the upper gates of the same, before he shall 
draw the doughs of the lower gates, unless there shall 
then be a boat coming down the canal, in sight of the 
said boatman, in which the lower gates of the lock shall 
be left shut, and the upper gates shall be left open ; an 1 
in all dry seasons, or where there shall be a scarcity of 
water in the canal, the boat so going up (if within sight 
of a boat so coming down) and at a distance not exceed 
ing two hundred yards below a lock, shall puss through 
such lock before the boat coming down, and then such 
other boat shall come down into the lock ; and if there 
shall be more boats than one, below and above any lock 
at the same time, in any such dry season, within the dis¬ 
tance aforesaid (which distance shall be distinguished by 
a post setup for that purpose,) such boats shah go up 
and come down at such lock by turns , until all the boats 
have passed, by which means one lock full of water may 
serve two boats. A penalty should be provided against 
any bargeman oi &vher person, who draws the doughs, 
except while barges are passing, as above, or for leaving 
any dough open ; as also against any lock-keeper or o- 


112 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


ther servant of the company who gives undue prefer 
ence to an) be .tman in passing the locks, oi in unload¬ 
ing his barge at the public wharves. Posts should also 
be provided by the side of the locks, for strapping or 
stepping the velocity of boats before they enter the locks, 
and penalties ought to be provided against the winding 
of then rope or strap round any part of the gates or 
lock, in order to stop a barge, except the strapping posts 
before mentioned; after all, the engineer should be 
careful to form the heads of .he gates, and all other pro¬ 
jecting points about his locks, of such a sloping or wedge¬ 
like form* that the rope would have no hold of them, 
but slip off- A clause should always be inserted in the 
act. for making master boatmen answerable for all dam- 
a. f. ('one by their servants, giving them, however the 
right of recovering from their servants in all cases of 
v i.ful damage or neglect. On some canals, it is usual, 
for the masters to hire their men by the ton of goods 
which they navigate certain distances, instead of paying 
them by the day for their time. 

For some 4 ime past, the rate of freight on some ca- 
pa's, over and above the company’s tonnage, has been 
tv r pence per ton per mile, for imperishable goods, three 
pence per ton per mile, for perishable goods, and four 
pi net half penny for bulk goods. In times of distres¬ 
sing scare;ty, like thost of 1795 and 1800, the com¬ 
mittees of several canals, have permitted the passage of 
imported grain, going towards the interior of the coub- 
try, toll free, with the laudable intention of lowering its 
pi ice to the community- 


NTE11NAL NAVIGATION. 


i IS 


CHAP. XIIL 


/A/ PROVE MEN? OF RIVER NAVIGATIONS. DIFFICULTIES .. 
VARIABLE STATE OF THE IVATER. DIMINUTION OF 

streams on clearing and improving The coun- 
trt about Their sources, cause of such dimi¬ 
nution. COUNTERACTING CAUSE . RUNNING CANALS. 
SIDE-CUTS. COUNTER-DRAINS. SLUICES. OPENING 
WEIRS. ONE ON THE THAMES. JETTIESIVIER- 
HEDGES. IMPROVEMENTS SUGGESTED BT MR. TEL¬ 
FORD EXPENSES AND INCONVENIENCIES THEREOF. 
CLEARING OUT THE BOTTOM OF RIVERS. MR. B RIND- 
LET*S OPINION OF RIVERS . 


T HE /irinci/iles of constructing or improving river 
navigations requires some notice. Mr. Thomas 
Telford has given an account ot the navigation of the l i¬ 
ver Severn, which is printed in J. Plymteifs Agricultu¬ 
ral Report of Shropshire, pages 284 and 317, from which 
we shall collect some particulars, and remark thereon, 
with a view of shewing by an example what arc the na¬ 
ture and extent of th« difficulties which navigation ha*, 
to contend with, upon natural rivers. Mr. William Rey¬ 
nolds, the founder of Coal-port, caused an account to he 
daily registered, of the depth of the stream, in the bed of 
the Severn river at that place, between the 7 th of October 
1789, and the 23d‘of December 1800, of which Mr. 
Telford has given us the particulars, except on 12 occa¬ 
sions when the river had overflown its bounds and cov¬ 
ered the usual marks, on Sundays during some part of 
the time, the intervals of frost in which the river was 
frozen over, and for three short intervals, when unfor¬ 
tunately the experiment was by some accident suspend¬ 
ed. These valuable materials we have examined, and 
shall present the reader with some results therefrom, 
that will be of use in judging of the interruptions from( 
floods and drought, to which river navigations are liable 


i 2 


i 


114 


INTERNAL. NAVIGATION. 


From the observations made as above, it appears, that 
the Severn river at Coal-port is subject to about one 
overflowing of its banks annually, besides about 20 less¬ 
er floods, varying (in eleven years) from 16 to 3 feet in 
height, the mean height of which is about 6 feet 7 in¬ 
ches. It also appears that the greatest floods and those 
occurring the oftenest, are in December and January ; 
that the fewest floods happen in May and June, and are 
the least in height in June and July. With respect to 
drought or diminution of water, it appears, that the 
Severn at this place is subject to between fifteen and 
sixteen low states of the water annually, and each of 
them will be found of much longer continuance than 
the floods are ; the lowest having 9 Inches only in depth 
of water, the greatest that we have here taken out be¬ 
ing 1 foot 10 inches, and the mean of all such we find 
to be 1 foot 4 3-4 inches, it also appears, that it is not 
oftener than once in two or three years on the average, 
that a low state of the water (1 foot 8 inches) occurs in 
any of the four winter months, November, December, 
January and February} that June and July are subject 
to the lowest waters, and July and August to the most 
frequent ikes of the water; the reason of this last cir¬ 
cumstance appears to be, that in this low state of the 
water, and when the breadth of the river is the least, the 
effect of almost every partial thunder, or other heavy 
shower, on any of the branches of this river, is visible 
in the same at Coal-port, which waters could not have 
been noticed, when the stream was so many times larg¬ 
er as it generally is. Only twenty-six instances occur 
in all the eleven years, of the water remaining for more 
than four days together at any other height than 1 foot 4 
inches, several of these being very near that height; 
and, irxdeed^instances of a stable height are so rare, that 
often for months together no two following days are to 
be found alike. 

Mr. Thomas Telford remarks, that the year 1796 af¬ 
forded so striking an instance of the fluctuating nature 
of this river, that during the whole of that year, there 
were not two months in which barges could be navigat- 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


U5 


ed, even down the river with a freight which was equal 
to defray the expenses of working them ; an interrup¬ 
tion to trade that was severely felt by the great coal- 
masters and manufacturers of iron in those parts in par¬ 
ticular. The same intelligent engineer observes, when 
speaking of the Severn , u the inconveniences arising 
from the irregularities of the water have always existed 
in some degree, but they have been greatly increased 
by the embankments wiiich have lately been raised to 
protect the low lands in Montgomeryshire, and in the 
upper parts of the county of Salop. Formerly, when 
the river had arrived at a moderate height it overflowed 
these lands to a great extent, which thereby operated 
as a side reservoir, and took off the top waters of the 
high floods ; and these waters returning to the bed of 
the river by slow degrees proved a supply for the navi¬ 
gation, for a long time after the flood began to subside, 
but being now confined to a narrow channel, they rise 
suddenly to a great height, and flow off with more ra¬ 
pidity than formerly ; whereby the n ivigation is at one 
period impeded by uncontrollable floods, and at another 
left destitute of a sufficient supply for its ordinary pur¬ 
poses. M Besides the embanking of low lands by the 
side» of considerable rivers noticed above, another 
cause has been observed by us, for the change for the 
worse, which is well known to have happened to many 
of our navig; ble rivers, within the last 50 years; in 
which period, a great portion of the common-field par¬ 
ishes in England have been enclosed, and in the greater 
number of instances, new and straight brooks and wa¬ 
ter-courses have been cut therein, instead of the exceed¬ 
ingly crooked and serpentine courses which most of 
them formerly had ; these have had the effect of carry¬ 
ing off rain waters much more freely and quickly than 
formerly, and have occasioned floods much more sud¬ 
den and high than were probably ever before experien¬ 
ced. At Bedford on the Ous c, we have read of two or 
three immense floods, within a few years past; such 
as would have effectually prevented the erection and 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


i !0 

growth erf the south pan of the town on its present 
site, if such floods had ever before prevailed. 

The same causes which have occasioned this Increase 
in the rapidity and height of the floods, have, as observ¬ 
ed by Mr. Telford\ caused the quantity of water in ge¬ 
neral, to be less in our rivers ; a circumstance which 
receives strong confirmation from an able pamphlet, 
said to be written by the late Mr. Weclgcnvood, in 1765, 
entitled “ A View of the Advantages of Inland Navi¬ 
gation/’ wherein it is mentioned, speaking of the Severn 
river •ear to Coal port, u that the lowest water that ev¬ 
er happens, in the driest summer, is never less than 18 
inches , which is sufficient to carry vessels of 16 or If 
tons burthen at any time.” We have seen above, that 
this river,since 1789, often runs with a stream no more 
than 16 inches deep for considerable periods together, 
and is frequently so low as not to have a foot depth of 
water in it, while instances of such extreme drought 
have been recorded, that the depth was reduced to 9 in¬ 
ches, or half what was formerly said to be its lowest 
state. The progress of agriculture improvements in 
the last age would have had a still more sensible effect, 
in producing a low state of the water in our rivers, after 
the sudden floods a?e run off, but for another, and con¬ 
trary effect from the above, by which they are accom¬ 
panied ; we allude to the more general drainage and 
cultivation ,of the surface ot the ground, by which it is 
enabled to absorb and take in so much greater a portion 
of every shower of rain than formerly, most of which 
water afterwards finds its way through land, or perma¬ 
nent springs, to the brooks and rivers, and prevents that 
very diminished state of them, which every dry season 
must now otherwise occasion. We may consider that 
all iand, whose surface is wet, and in want of draining, 
is in that state as incapable of absorbing or retaining 
the rain waters, as the tiles of the roofs of houses, or 
the paved streets in a town are ; and, that when that 
most essential of agricultural improvements, under- 
draining, has been applied, and the surface rendered 
fit for cultivation, the whole of a large portion of the 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


117 


showers of rain, and a considerable portion of all of 
them, are absorbed and retained in the 1 md, to be af¬ 
terwards slowly given out, by the under-drains or 
springs, for equalizing the rivers. 

In projected improvements upon any of our old river 
navigations, or in expending the navigation thereon a- 
bove the tide-way, it is of importance to examine the 
state of the whole country, to which the river in ques¬ 
tion rets as a drain, to observe accurately whether cul¬ 
tivation, or the breaking up of lands, and the practice 
of draining have been going on, or are likely to be so in 
anv considerable degree, within a reasonable period ; as 
ais o observe particularly the state and extent of the 
valleys and meadows, over which the waters are or have 
been spread in ordinary floods, and the probability of 
such being further prevented by straightening or en¬ 
larging the beds of the brooks and rivers, or embanking 
the courses of the streams; these, with the most cor¬ 
rect information that can be obtained from different 
millers and others, who live on the banks of the river, 
or from scientific individuals, who have caused accounts 
to be kept of the height of the water, will be necessa¬ 
ry data for determining the magnitude and nature of 
the works which will be necessary on the proposed na¬ 
vigation. 

Mr. William Chapman seems to incline to the opinion, 
that locks may not always be eligible on river naviga. 
tions, and ^says in his Observations p. 87, that “ during 
the flooded state of rivers, all small falls are equalized, 
as they necessarily rise higher below than above a ra¬ 
pid ; therefore I am far from saying that running canals 
with a small fall are not, in many instances, eligible on 
the shores of great rivers ; and that well devised stops, 
easily opened and closed, (not such as lift up like those 
described in China, nor open against the streams as 
gates ) are not sometimes preferable to incurring the 
charge of locks In other ®early similar instances 
where locks are eligible, their piers and gates alone, 
will be sufficient without any other floor or side walls, 
than a concave and battered pavement, continued 


118 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


through the bottom and up the sides of the space be¬ 
tween the piers '1 he eligibility, and the particular 
construction of these works, will much depend on the 
nature and extent of the beds of the rivers, the differ¬ 
ence between their low and flooded states, the height 
and also the permanency of their shores and the quan¬ 
tity of floating ice. 

The greater number of rivers through which new 
nu\igations are now required to pass, will be found oc¬ 
cupied by mills, at shot tei or longer distances from each 
other, according to the fall ot the water in most instan¬ 
ces ; at the tail of most of such mills, will be found a 
large and deep pool, which the fall of water from the 
mill-courses and flood-gates has torn and excavated, and 
a short distance below this pool a shoal or bed of gravel, 
or other matters, will in general be found, that would 
prove so expensive to remove, and would in general be 
so subject to accumulate again by a further excavation 
of the pool from the increased fall of water into it, that 
it will in general be the cheapest and most effectual 
way to begin a new cut for the navigation below this 
shoal, and continue the same up by the side of the pool 
to the bank of the mill, wherein a pound-lock must be 
constructed, cither of timber or masonry for gaining 
the ascent to the mill-dam or upper pound. In rapid 
rivers subject to great floods, the utmost care and 
attention of the engineer to the construction of such 
works will be necessary, to prevent their being demol- 
i*hed by the first flood perhaps after their erection. 
Where mills do not intervene, and rapid and of course 
shallow places occur in the bed of the river which is to 
be made navigable, a side-cut must be begun from above 
such shallow, and if practicable, at the beginning of 
a considerable bend of the river which the side-cut 
may cut off and shorten ; in continuing this side cut 
downwards towards the place where the lock is to be 
placed, and the junction below the same is to be form¬ 
ed with the river below the shallow, care must be taken 
to conduct the iue-cut, which is to be upon a level as 
far us the lock, as soon as possible across the flat mea° 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


1 19 

dows to the borders of the high ground, along which it 
should skirt, to the place of the lock, if this is practica- 
be on account of the width of the meadows; other¬ 
wise a counter drain or p mallei cut must be taken up 
from belo\v the lock, us fir as is necessary, on the land 
side of the side-^Ut, tod tin off the water, and prevent 
a swamp or pond being formed above the lock and be¬ 
tween the side-rut and toe big a ground, as is almost in¬ 
variably done by the ancient n»ili-da ns on most rivers 
and stre mns : i<: is, nowever, with the utmost care and 
p ecau ions tnat the counter-drain should be adopted, 
otherwise) in time of floods, wnen the meadows are 
pv< vfl »ived. such a current would rush into and down 
toe <j ciivity of the counter-drain as to endanger the 
tearing thereof, and of the bottom and sides of the cut 
ci bed of the river, into which it vented below the lock. 
We nave seen large and expensive sluices erected up¬ 
on and near to the vent of counter-drains circumstanced 
as above, of greater height than the top of the floods, 
vvhicn were found necessary to be built, and kept shut 
on the approach of a flood to prevent the action of the 
counter-drain, until the flood had subsided so far as not 
to ovciflaw the meadows adjoining the counter-drain. 
Across the bed oi the river at the most convenient place 
below and near the upper end of the side-cut, an operi- 
ing-weir must be constructed,"by whieft the water in the 
river can always be kept at a proper height lor coveri ;g 
the shallows and bed ot the river to a proper depth for 
the navigation ; several of these opening-weirs have 
within a few years oeen constructed on the Thames , one 
of which near Windsor has been deseiioed ana drawn 
by Mr. Zach Allnutt in his Consid viitions on the best 
mode of improving the River /'hames. i bOj p 2 2 It 
consists of several strong piles or posts driven firmly in¬ 
to the bed of the river at 20 to 25 leet ap mi, m snv.ig it 
line across the river: the intervals be w on these plies 
are driven and nicely filled up wiih pug-piles, or d re¬ 
tail piles, such as we have described wi en treating of 
locks : these last are afterwards sawed off straigi ' nd 
2ven with the bottom ol the river, and have a strong and 


,0 


INTERVAL NAVIGATION. 


sound sill nicely fitted and spiked on to them, and int© 
*ach of the large piles at its end ; by this means the water 
is prevented from soaking or making its way, except 
through the rectangular openings between the several 
piles, which should be at least as high as the highest 
floods, and have their tops connected by strong cross 
pieces of timber bolted on to them ; in these cross pie¬ 
ces, and in the sill below, a number of holes are prepa¬ 
red for placing at equal intervals as many upright pieces 
of wood, called rimers, with rebates in their sides for 
temporary gates to slide down in,and rest against; after 
these rimers are put in, a sluice or gate, wiih a tall han¬ 
dle to rest agaiast the upper oa’ cross piece, is put in 
between each rimer ; .and, above these, another set of 
gates, called over-falls, with similar handles, are fitted* 
to be occasionally used in dry seasons, when none of the 
Water is to be suffered to escape, except by the side-cut 
and lock-paddies. In time ot floods, all these gates, 
overfalls, and rimers, are taken away, by persons who 
go in boat for that purpose ; which operation, we are 
told, can be performed in three hours, and the water is 
suffered to take its free course through the openings; 
as the water subsides, a few of these gates are put in at 
a time, leaving the water its course through the others, 
until all cf them are in, when on any small rise ot the 
water, the same falls over the tops of these gates into 
the bed of the liver below ; when a grea’er depth of 
water is wanted above, the oyer-falls or upper gates are 
successively put in upon ihe others ; these last being of 
such o height that t r e water can fall over their tops be- 
f< it woti'd ovti fl >w the me-iows io c .sc of its rising, 
and the men nut attending or being expeditious enough 
in t„king away f re over-fails. «< tnen the gates, if the 
p:ogressi\e i is f* iver should i\ * dei it neccss iy.* 

* The ice fre< zes no ’» tbit ker arid utger in u:- livers, 
particularly in dr* middle and eastern a,. .. & than In those of 
Great If* a n. *v ,»u! I not me great in sses of n o drift-wood, 
hr which are hurl .< d down, by the impe‘ uositv of our i'..« Is 
at the b. e d-vng up of wmler, die- i * and render useless suut 
improvements as those above mentioned ? 





INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


O { 


In the Th.vics and several other livers, Jetties or JVair* 
hedges have formerly been made, for diminishing- the 
width of the river below the several shoals, in older to 
make a deeper but narrower and more rapid current o- 
ver the same, as is done, we are told, on the China ca¬ 
nals ; but the rapid and dangerous currents which these 
and the underwater weirs occasion, particularly in high 
water times, have been so justly and loudly complained 
of, that we trust the same will, ere long, give piace to 
the side-cuts, pound-locks, and opening-weirs, above 
desci ibed. 

For improving the navigation of rapid, confined, and 
variable rivers, like the Severn, Mr. Thomas Telford , in 
Tly.mley's Rejiort , p. ~L7, hus recommended the deepen- 
ing the lower part oi the ovi ol the n .er in the shallow 
pieces, in order to equaled e the declivity and current of 
the river : a very experienced engineer has suggested, 
that, deepened shallows, without Jetties or similar con¬ 
structions, would sosn be again filled up in many cases. 
In the higher parts, Mr. Telford proposes to erect so¬ 
lid and durable weirs of masonry across the liver upon 
shallow places, with side-cuts and pound-locks by the 
side of them, for the navigation; and the river when 
thus diverted, may, as he justly observes, be applied to 
many important purposes of machinery, and for irriga¬ 
ting of the meadows, which would thus be brought with¬ 
in its reach. There is no doubt but this method is prac¬ 
ticable, and would ultimately answer well ; but the ex¬ 
pense would be very great of erecting substantial weirs, 
and making the banks of the side-cuts, and walls, and 
gates of the locks, high enough to prevent the floods 
from breaking over into them, a condition which seem a 
necessary, if barges are to be able to proceed at alt 
times ; the towing-path should also for the same pur¬ 
pose be made up with a regular sloping bunk- next the 
river, presenting no inequalities or projecting objects to 
catch or wear the towing-lines, so that its top or path 
shall be always above water. On a river which rises 16 
or 17 feet or more, these works would be attended with 
a most sciious expense and difficulty, particularly where 

H 


122 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


cliffs rise almost perpendicularly up from the bed of the 
stream. Machinery on such a stream, unless great ex¬ 
pense indeed was incurred to obviate it, would be sub¬ 
ject to have its work interrupted by every large flood : 
the working of boats on a river with such its, locks, and 
towing-paths, as we have mentioned, would be attended 
with considerable difficulties ; tall masts must he used 
for attaching the towing-line in dry times to brin r the 
line on a level, or nearly so with the horses,and in floods 
it must be fixed lower down, or to a shorter mast; and 
in such cases, the utmost care might not J ways be able, 
where the works are necessarily a nod by rocky 
banks, to prevent barges from someth, s missing the 
entrance of the side-cut, and being precipitated down 
the.cm rent ever the wier, and being sunk. 

The heaving ofbalkist , as it is called, Cr tiie taking up 
c,f sand, gravel, or other loose or soft matters from the 
oerttom of l ivers, to deepen their beds, or for any other 
purpose, is usually performed by a strong pole, having 
a flat ring or hoop of iron fixed on its end, to which a 
strong leathern bag is fastened, like what is called a 
landing-net among fishermen ; or for taking up gravel 
b dy. a fine and strong no* is used instead of a leathern 
big ; the edge of this hoop h made sharp, sous to strike 
into the bottom, when a man pushes it down by its pole ; 
near to this hoop a rope of considerable length is fast¬ 
ened. which is held by a man that stands at the head on 
the gunwale oi a boat at anchor, while another man at 
the ster i strikes the hoop and bag into the bottom, the 
man i the head then hauls at the rope to drag the bag, 
along and scrape the bottom, while the other man shoves 
down th ■ pole to which it is attached, until the bag is 
tided with sand, gravel brother matters, which are wan- 
tv'i to ae got up ; the man with the rope then advances 
in- 1 ) cr to the other, and 
other does the same by the pole 

vc i the side o! the boat a.jd empties its contents into the 
s one. 11 the bottom be hard, or the bug large, two or 
K.cac men uvo employee, to puli the rope, afsd sometimes 


>u.ls up by the rope while the 
and brings the bag o- 


wlncb and rod on 


wn; 


' bo rope or chain winds, are 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


o \ 

• I 


used for dragging the hoop unci bug along the bottom, 
and for hauling the same up to the surface, when the 
manat the pole finds that the bag is full, he begins to 
puli instead of pushing by the pole ; this is the employ¬ 
ment at Woolwich of a great number of convicts, in¬ 
stead of their being transported Solid matters or rocks 
when they happen to need excavating, below the level 
that the water can be drawn off to, or the ebb of the tide', 
seem to require all the skill and resources of the cngl* 
neer. 


U may not be uninteresting to the reader, to learn the 
opinion which was entertained by the great Brindh y, 
(who is emphatically tuled the father of British am i 0 
oh the subject of the improvement of river navigation •>. 
He was the greatest enthusiast, (gays Phillips) in f.-.v-, r 
of artificial navigations that ever existed. <-♦ flavin 7 
spoken upon various .circumstances of rivers before a 
committee of the House of Commons, in which he seem 
cd to treat all sorts of rivers with great contempt, a 
member asked him for what purpose he apprehended 
l ivers were created ? Mr. Brindley , considering within 
himself a moment, replied, u To feed navigable canals, ,J 
see. Inland Navigation by J. Phillips , pages 1 13-14. 


CHAP. XIV. 

WATER-CEMENTS. PUZZOLANA. TAR R AS. BLACK OX¬ 
IDE OF IRON. IPOS OPES. WOOD-ASHES, COMPACT 
BASALT. CENDR EE 1) E l’OUR HAT. LORIOT MORTAR. 
NOTE, ON WATER CEMENTS BLACK OXIDE OF MAN¬ 
GANESE. MATERIALS IN THE UNITED STATES . 

A S the construction of locks requires the use of mor¬ 
tar or cement, which will set, indurate or harden 
underwater; a short account of Baler Cements , may 
not be improper. Although a well made mortar, com- 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


J24 


posed merely of sand and lime, if allowed to dry, become? 1 , 
impervious to water, yet if the circumstances of the 
building are such as to render it impracticable *o keep 
out the water, whether fresh or suit, a sufficient length 
of time, the use of common mortar must be abandoned ; 
for lime and sand, if mixed together in any proportions, 
and put, while soft, into water, will, in a short time fall 
to pieces. 


Among the nations of antiquity the Romans appear 
to have been the only people who practised ouikhr.g in 
water, and especially in the sea, ,o any great extent,—- 
The bay of Baiaz, like our fVshionabie watering places, 
was the summer resort of all the wealthy of Home ; 
who, not content with erecting their villas .as near the 
shore as possible, were accu ’omed to construct moles, 
and form small islands, in the more sheltered parts of 
the bay, on which, for the sake oi the grateful coolness, 
they built their summer houses and pavillions They 
were enabled to build thus securely in the water by the 
fortunate discovery, at the neighboring town of Puteoli, 
cl un earthy substance, which, from this circumstance* 
war. railed/M/i'/j? fmtcolamis , (powder of Puteoli) 

Pnteolan powder, or as it is now denominated puzzo- 
lana, is a light, porous, iiiable mineral, of a red colour, 
and is generally supposed to derive its origin from con¬ 
crete 1 volcanic ashes, thrown out front Vesuvius, near 
to which mountain the town of Puteoli is situated. It 


seems lo consist of a ferruginous clay, baked and calci¬ 
ned by the force of volcanic tire, and when mixed with 
common mortar, not only “enables ii to acquire a remar¬ 
kable hardness in the air, but to become as firm as stone, 
even under water. The only preparation which puzzo- 
lana undergoes, to fit it for use, is that of pounding and 
sifting, l y which it is reduced to a coarse powder; in this 
state being thoroughly beaten up with lime, either with 
or without sand, it forms a mass of remarkable tenacity, 
which speedily sets under water, and becomes at least 
as strong as good free-stone. 

It bos been before observed, that a com posh ion of 
pure lime and sand alone will not harden under water 


IN iJSllXAL NAVIGATION. 


y* 


but limes containing a portion of clay posses.; this 
perty in a considerable degree, and arc therefore gene¬ 
rally used in water building. The cement used by Mr 
Smeaton, in the construction of the Eddystone light¬ 
house, was composed of equal purls by measure of T.«- 
ked Aberlhuw lime and puzzolana. 'Hie peculiar difll- 
cultiesof this undertaking, exposed to the utmost vio¬ 
lence of the sea, rendered these proportions advisable ; 
but for wol’ks that are less exposed, such as locks and 
basons for canals, kc. the quantity of puzzplana may be 
considerably diminished. A composition of this kind, 
which has been found vciy effectual, is two bushels of 
slaked Aberthaw lime, one bushel of puzzoiuna, and 
three of clear sand; the whole being well beaten toge¬ 
ther will yield 4.67 cubic feet of cement. 

The Dutch have practised building in water to a grea¬ 
ter extent than any other nation of modern Europe ; and 
to them is due the discovery ol a cement admirably Wei? 
adapted for this purpose, and called tarras or trass.— 
This is nothing more than wakke, or cellular basalt, and 
is procured chiefly from Borkenheim, Frankfort on the 
Maine, and Andernach, whence it is transported down 
the Rhine in large quantities to Holland. This sub¬ 
stance being, by grinding* and sifting, reduced to the 
consistence of coarse sand, is used in the composition of 
mortar, with the blue argillaceous lime from the bank' 
of the Scheldt, in the following method. They take of 
the quick-lime about the quantity which will be wanted 
during a week, and spread it in a kind of bason in a stra¬ 
tum of a foot thick and sprinkle it with water. It is then 
cov ered with a stratum of about eke same thickness c-f 
tarras, and the whole suffered to remain for two.or three 
days, after which it is very wed mixed and beaten, and 
forued into a mass, which is again kit for about two 
days ; it is then taken in smut!] quantities, as it is wanted 
for daily consumption,, which are a-..in beaten previous 
to using. Thus is composed the celebrated tarras mor¬ 
tar with which the mounds sr:d other Constructions far 
the purpose of protecting the lowlands of Holland 
gainst tins sea are cemented. 

M 2 


l-2€ 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


Tarras is frequently used in this country, being* im¬ 
ported from Holland for that purpose. The propor¬ 
tions of the materials of the tarras mortar generally 
used in the construction of the best water works is the 
same as the Dutch practise. One measure of quick¬ 
lime, or two measures of slaked lime in dry powder, is 
mixed with one measure of tarras, and both very well 
ticat together, to the consistence of a paste, usinv; as lit¬ 
tle water as possible. Another kind, almost equally 
good, and considerably cheaper, is made of two mea¬ 
sures of .sinker Urn?, one of tarras, and three oi coarse 
sand ; it require* to be beaten a longer time than the 
forgoing, am! produces three measures and a half cf 
excellent- mortar. When the building is constructed 
of rough irregular stones, where cavities and large 
joints are to ho filled up with cement, the pebble mor¬ 
tar may be most advantageously applied ; this was a 
favorite mode of construction among the Romans, and 
nas been used ever since their time in those works in 
which a large quantity of mortar is required. Pebble 
mortar will be found of sufficient compactness if com¬ 
posed of two measures of slaked argillaceous lime, half 
a measure of tarras, or puzzolana, one measure of 
coarse sand, one of fine sand, and four of small pebbles, 
screened and washed. 

It is only under water that tarras mortar acquires its 
proper hardness ; for if suffered to dry by exposure to 
the air, it never sets into a substance so firm as if the 
same lime had been mixed with good clean common 
sand, but is very friable and crumbly. Ash mortar is 
reckoned to he superior for works that are sometimes 
wet and sometimes dry, but tarras has the advantage 
when constantly under water. 'Parras mortar when 
kept always wet, and consequently in a state most favor¬ 
able to its cementing principle throws out a substance 
something like the concretions in limestone caverns 
called stalactites, which substance acquires a considera¬ 
ble hardness, and in time becomes so exuberant as tode- 
form the faee of the walls. ?.* . 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


127 


Although the cellular basalt is the only kind admit¬ 
ted into the preparation of Dutch tarras/yet it appears 
from some good experiments of Morveau on the sub¬ 
ject, that the common compact basalt, if previously cal¬ 
cined, will answer nearly the same purpose. 

In some parts of the Low Countries coal ashes are 
substituted for tarras with very good effect; of which 
the valuable Cendrte de Tourvat 7 is a striking instance. 
The deep blue argillo-ferruginous limestone of the 
Scheldt is burnt in kilns with a slaty kind of pit-coal that 
is found in that neighborhood. When the calcination 
of the lime is completed, the pieces are taken out, and 
a considerable quantity of dust and small fragments re¬ 
main at the bottom of the kiln. This refuse"consisting 
of coal ash mixed with about one fourth of lime dust, 
is called the cemh'be, and is made into a mortar with 
lime in the following method. About a bushel of the 
materials is put in any suitable vessel, and sprinkled 
with water just sufficient to slake the lime ; another 
bushel is then treated in the same way, and so on till the 
vessel is filled. In this state it remains some weeks, 
and may be kept for a much longer time if covered with 
moist earth. A strong open trough, containing about 
two cubic feet, is filled about two thirds full with the ce¬ 
ment in the above state, and by means of a heavy iron 
pestle, suspended at the end of an elastic pole, is well 
beaten for about half an hour : at the end of this time it 
becomes of the consistence of soft mortar, and is then 
laid in the shade from three to six days, according to the 
dryness of the air. When sufficiently dry, it is beaten 
again for half an hour as before, and the oftener it is 
beaten the better will be the cement; three or four 
times, however, are sufficient to reduce the cement to 
the consistence of an uniform smooth paste ; after this 
period it is apt to become refractory on account of the 
evaporation of its water, as no more of this fluid is al¬ 
lowed to enter the composition than what was at first 
employed to slake the lime. The cement thus prepar¬ 
ed is found to posses the singular advantage of uniting 
in a few minutes so firmly to brick or stone, that still 


'! iH 


1N l E11 S .VI, NA V 1G A i i © S'. 


water may be immediately let-in upon the work with¬ 
out any inconvenience, and by keeping it dry for 24 
hours, it has nothing further to fear from, the most rapid 
current. 


A composition very similar t« the preceding in mate 
rials, winch are coal cinders and lime, though seldom 
prepared with any attention, is the blue mortar, com¬ 
monly used in London for setting the coping of build¬ 
ings, and other works much exposed to the weather. 

Ash mortar is used in some parts of England, it is 
prepared by slaking two bushels of fresh burnt meagre 
lime, and mixing it accurately with three bushels of 
wood ashes : the mass is to lie till it is cold, and is then 
to be well beaten: in this state it will keep a considera¬ 
ble time without injury, and even with advantage, pro¬ 
vided it is thoroughly beaten twice or thrice before it is 
used. 

The scales, or black oxytl of iron, which arc detach¬ 
ed by hammering red hot iron, and are therefore to be 
procured at the forges and blacksmith’s shops, have 
been loner known as an excellent material in water ce- 

O * 

ments ; but we believe that Mr. Smeaton was the first 
person who made any accurate experiments on their 
efficacy, compared with other substances. The scales 
being pulverised and sifted, and incorporated with Jime, 
are found to produce a cement equally powerful with 
puzzolana mortar, if employed in the same quantity. 
Induced by the success of these experiments, Mr. 
Smeaton substituted roasted iron ore for the scales, and 
found that this also gave to mortar the property of set¬ 
ting under water ; it requires, however, to be used in 
greater proportions than either tarras or puzzolana ; 
two bushels of argillaceous lime, two of iron ore, a«d 
one of sand being carefully mixed, produce 3. 22 cubic 
feet of cement lullv equal to tarras mortar. If the com¬ 
mon white lime is made use of, it will be advisable to 
employ equal quantities of all the three ingredients. 

With respect to the water used in the preparation of 
water cements, that of rivers or ponds where it can be 
had easily, is to be preferred to spring water ; but for 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


129 


works exposed to the action of the sea, such as piers, 
light-hou.>es, See. it is usually mote convenient and 
equally advantageous in other respects to use salt wa¬ 
ter. 

Pumice stone, brick, and tile dust, arc also recom¬ 
mended for water cements, but their only advantage 
seems to be an ahso’bent quality, which causes the rnor- 
ter maue with them to set sooner, and therefore acquire 
it greater hardness in the same time, than mortar com¬ 
posed of sand and lima alone, for they have no power-of 
hardening under water. 

The Loriot mortar is a composition which has ac¬ 
quired considerable celebrity in France, and has been 
employed in some large works. It was invented about 
40 years ago by M. Loriot, who imagines that lie has 
discovered the process used by the Romans. The prin¬ 
ciple of this invention consists in adding to any quanti¬ 
ty of mortar made in the usual way with lime and sand, 
but prepared rather thinner than usual, a certain pro¬ 
portion of quick-lime, in powder The lime powder 
being well incorporated with the mortar, the mass heats, 
and in a few minutes acquires a consistence, equal to 
the best Paris plaster, and is as dry at the end of two 
days, as an ordinary cement after several months. It 
also, when the ingredients are well proportioned, sots 
without any cracks. The quantity of lima powder to 
be added varies from 1-4 to t-8 ol the ether materials, 
according to the qualities of the limo ; too much burns 
and dries up the mass, and with too little it loses its pe¬ 
culiar advantages ; thus the proportions, a point ol' the 
utmost importance, can only be determined by experi¬ 
ment. It is its -peedy desiccation which rendered the 
Loiiot mortar useful as a water cement, for under water 
it has only the common propertie s of a composition of 
lime and sand of equal solidity ; indeed for this purpose 
various substances, commonly used in cements, are re¬ 
commended to be added, such as brick and tile powder, 
and forge scales. The following is an approved re¬ 
ceipt. One measure of bricks exactly pounded, two 
measures of fine river sand, old slaked lime insufficient 


130 


i NT £ li N A L X A V1G A T ION. 


quantity to make a mortar in the usual manner and suf¬ 
ficiently liquid to quench the lime powder which is add¬ 
ed in about the same quantity as the pulverised brick. 

NOTE. 

In addition to the water-cements above mentioned the 
compiler takes the liberty of extracting the following, 
on the subject, from The Chemical Catechism, by Samuel 
Parks, F. L. S. page 425, 

i( Mi a four parts of grey day, six of the black oxide 
of manganese, and ninety of good limestone reduce d to 
fine powder ; then calcine the whole to expel the car¬ 
bonic acid. When this mixture has been well calcined 
and cooled, it is to be worked into the consistence of a 
soft paste with sixty parts of washed sand. If a lump 
of tins cement be thrown into the water it will harden 
immediately, Such mort.tr, however, maybe procur¬ 
ed at a still less expense, by mixing with common 
quick'dime a certain quantity cf what are called the 
white iron ores, especially such ..s ure poor in iron. 
These ores arc chiefly composed of manganese and 
carbonate of lime or chalk/ 1 

That alt the materials for nmknrn the different kinds 

r ~j 

of water-cemcnts, except puzzolans, and perhaps ex¬ 
cept cellular bus .1 it, exist in great abundance, in the 
United States, there cannot be a doubt ; and with re¬ 
spect to cellular basalt, with which the Dutch make the 
celebrated tan as mortar, it is very probable, considering 
t' c extent of our country, and the varieties of •our soil, 
climate and mountains, that this also may be found ; 
but the mineralogy of the United States is yet so im¬ 
perfectly known, that this, at present, must rest in con¬ 
jecture. Vv’e have, however, it is believed, all the 
kinds of lime-stone ; and the State of New-Yo;k can 
furnish the several vaiieties, from the pure white lime 
of the buhl mountain in Was . inn;ton County, to the blue 
argillaceous and gray iUmighious kind, commonly 
known in the country by use name of bastard limealone. 
It is hardly wonb. vhi'e to remark, that we have forge 
scales, or ^ 1 4 *-• V • d h E. . title o iron in almost any quanti- 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


13! 


lies ; and iron ores exist in such abundance, that it 
would be superfluous to designate the places where they 
may be found. Several of the States produce pit coal 
in considerable varieties; and wood ashes are in great 
pienty, and of trifling value, in ail parts of the country: 
The writer of this has, in his possession, a good speci¬ 
men of the black oxide of manganese, brought from 
Bennington in the State of Vermont, where it is said to 
exist, in great quantities, and there is but little doubt, 
that it may also be found in various other parts of the 
United States. But perhaps the compact basalt would 
be the cheapest material for a water-cement that could 
be procured in the State of New-York : and we have 
enough of this material, in one pi icc, to supply the 
United States. The well known rocks, or cliffs, called 
the Pallissadoes , which form a part of the west bank of 
the Hudson river, below the highlands are entirely 
composed'of compact basalt. This, when burnt like 
lime, and pulverised, communicates to the mortar with 
which it is mixed, the property of hardening under wa¬ 
ter. It may be pulverised by the rolling of a heavy cir¬ 
cular stone with a horse, in the same manner as tanners 
grind bark \ or by the simple hydraulic machine, with 
'which gypsum or plaster of IU»is is broken into small 
fragments before it is ground , 

Basaltes or basalt is of a gray, blue, or purplish black 
color, destitute of lustre or transparency, commonly 
presenting a texture composed oi granular concretions, 
and is found in large masses of a regular form, general¬ 
ly columnar. According to Klaproth , it is composed of 
44 5 sikx, 7 alumine, 20 oxide of iron, 9.5 of lime, 
2.6 of soda, and 6 manganese and water. See C hem- 
icqI Catechism page 438. 


*> lw\ 

: 4 - 


STERNAL NAVIGATION 


CHAP. XV. 


HlRir LEVEL 1 V 17 H TELESCOPIC SIGHTS. DESCRIPTION 
THEREOF. PROPING THE SAME. LEVEL L "G STAVES. 
table of difference eeTiveen apparent and 

RV.AL LEVEL. 

HE afiirit level with telcscofiic sights. A short de- 



JL sCi iption of'this insti nment. as it is generally made 
is as fellows: The s/iirit level, also called r.he 
vel” consists of a cylindrical glass tube filled with spi¬ 
rits of v ine, except leaving in it a small bubble of air : 
its ends are hermetically sealed to keep in the fluid — 
This bubble being the lightest of the contents of the 
tube, will, by the laws of hydrostatics, always run to¬ 
wards that end of the tube which is the most elevated ; 
but when the tube is perfectly horizontal, the bubble will 
have no tendency towards either end. The tube is not 
strictly cylindrical withinside, though it bears that ap¬ 
pearance ; it is slightly curved, the convex side being 
upwards, and by this means the bubble will res: in the 
middle of the tube when it is horizontal, but approaches 
either end which is elevated above the other : thus made, 
it is attached to a brass rule by a proper aparatus. 

The tclescofic is in a little brass tube, about fifteen in¬ 
ches long, fastened cn the same rule as the level, ano 
parallel with it. At one end of the tube oi the teles¬ 
cope, enters a little tube carrying the eye-glass and a 
hair horizontally placed in the focus of the object-glass 
(and sometimes, also, a perpentticulai hair, crossing me 
horizontal one at light angles, in the centre); which 
little tube may be drawn out, or pushed into the ether, 
for adjusting the telescope to different distances. At 
the other end of the telescope is fixed the object-glass : 
there is a screw for racing or lowering the^ little fork 
carrying the hair, and making it agree with the bubble 
of air when the instrument is level j also, another screw 


< 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


133 


for making- the bubble of air agree with the telescope. 
Ti e whole is Tied to a ball and socket. Theseinstm- 
r;-nts are sou times made on constructions, different 
f. om the above, having a greater complication of screws 
ancl other apparatus lor adjusting them ; they also, some¬ 
times havn a surveyor’s compass, connected with them. 

I he first process, preparatory to taking any levels, 
is to prove the correctness of the instrument yot env 
p. y for that purpose. Seme instruments are connived 
to prove themselves ; but outersbvquire. an actual trial 
on the field, which is a general irm nc>d atuifap plicable 
to a level of any kind. If the iin>. unient is nndeaih 
plain sights, (and without a telescope, as some are,) he 
proof is very simple: first se ii. level, and o ave 
through i's sights sonic (iisiant o' per; then turn’ e 
level end for end anri ob-ei ve the s -.me < bj ct. It it 
points the same both ways, it is correct ; if not, the \q- 
vel must be altered one naif of tne difference thus ‘s- 
covered, the error being doubled by this method • t iri¬ 
al . For instance, if the i.nsu timer,t pointed below the 
true level the first time, it will point as much above it 
when turned end for end. A level with a tele scop- can¬ 
not be used at either end, end therefore tins meyhob is 
inadmissable, and the following may be adoptee. 

Pivtce the instrument on the margin of a pond or other 
standing sheet of water of several chains in extent; 
point the telescope, nicely adjusting the same by tire 
bubble, to some object on the margin of the water, or 
across, or standing in the same, at eight 01 ten chains 
distance : by ’be help of an assistant mark accurately 
the place where the cross hairs of the telescope cut the 
obj ect : measure nicely the perpendicular height of 
this place above the surface of the water, making a due. 
allowance for the difference between the apparent ai d 
real level, of which wc shall directly treat; measure < 1 - 
so the heigh’ of the centre of the telescope above the 
sm face of the water, and if the two measurements a- 
g : c the instrument is correct; if not, it must be rec¬ 
tified went they;&gr- e The following method, where 
no sianumg wate. foal , an d, h equally correct. Choose 

N 


134 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


a spot of ground where it is tolerably level for 20 chains- 
in extent, and place the instrument at a station which 
%ve will call A : direct the telescope to a target held up 
by an assistant, upon a stake driven down to the surface 
of the ground at B- twenty chains distant. Your assis¬ 
tant must, according to your signals, elevate or depress 
tl e vane of the target, tilt it appears in the intersection 
of the cross hairs ; now measure and write down the 
hei rht of the centre of the telescope above a stake pre¬ 
viously driven into the ground immediately under it, 
which, suppose to be tour feet; your assistant is also to 
measure and wri'e down the height at which the vane 
of the target stands above the stake at B, which* sup¬ 
pose to he six feet; the apparent diffcrem e of level be¬ 
tween A and B will thus be two feet, U being two feet 
the lowest. But the line of vision, through the teles¬ 
cope to the target, being a tangent to the earth’s surface, 
the true level will be found by deducting the allowance 
fo 20 chains, shewn by, the table of the earth’s curva¬ 
ture to b..: 041 of afoot; which will make for the true 
difference of level between A and B 1.959 feet. To 
prove this, level it the other way, removing the mstru- 
men to B and the target to A. Observe in the same 
manner as before, and if it gives the same difference of 
le et as before, after deducting the allowance, the instru¬ 
ment is correct; If, on the other hand, the results by 
the two methods do not prove the same, take half the 
difference between the two, and elevate or depress the 
ta get that quantity, according as the last observation 
was greater or less than the first, and adjust the instru¬ 
ment, either by the screw under the level, or the screws 
of the cross hairs until they appear to cut the vane of 
the target so corrected, when the bubble is in the mid¬ 
dle. . The instrument is.now corrected, but the trial 
should be repeated to make it cert. Ln ; the trial should 
also be often repeated dining the operation o fie veiling 
for the line oi a canal, lest, by the derangement of the 
instrument, gross errors should be committed? 

Levelling staves* are iustrumeii's used in levelling; 
serving to carry the targets, vanes, indexes, or marks to 


t 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 13j 

be observed, and at the same ti ne to measure the heights 
of those marks fro m the ground. 1'hey are of different 
constructions, but generally consist of two long square 
wooden rulers, made to slide over each other, eacn be* 
ing something more than five feet long, so that when 
extended they m ly form a rod of ten feet in height.— 
They have a graduated ii *e of feet into inches and tenths, 
or of feet into hundredths^ The index, vane, or target 
(which may consist of a thin fiat piece of wood dor of 
paste-board, or of tin, five or six inches by three in size, 
placed so that its length crosses the staff at right angles) 
slides firmly, and is mo " fl up or down, by sign vl to y 
point between the two extremes ©f the ten feet, by the 
attendant who carries the staff, till the observer finds it 
coincide with the intersecting wires or hairs of his te¬ 
lescope. Its height on the staff, of course marks the 
difference of the level; and it has two horizontal and 
parallel black, stripes (pi sometimes a black and white* 
stripe), which, at considerable distances, are of use to 
direct the eye more readily to its fiducial edge, or to its 
central line. 

In order to understand the difference between the a/i- 
fiarent and the true level, and the reason of making an 
allowance therefor, in levelling for the line of a canal ; 
it will be necessary to consider, that every sheet of water 
has a tendency, owing to its fluidity and to the S ws or 
gravitation, to settle and remain at rest, in such a situa¬ 
tion, as that evei y part of its surface will be equidistant 
from the centre of the earth ; and, as the earth is , lobu¬ 
lar, it is evident that the surface of every sheet of still 
and undisturbed water will present, not a straight, but a 
curved line, exactly conforming itself to the rotundity 
of the earth. 

One place is said to fee higher than another, or out of 
level with it, when it is more remote from the centre of 
the earth ; and a line equally distant from the eavtl 
centre, in all ns points, is called the line of true level ; 
whence, because the earth is round, that line must be a 
curve, and make a part of the earth’s circumference, 
or an arc concentrical with it, all the points whereof are 
equally distant from the centre of the earth. 


136 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION, 


BtU the line of sight, which the operations of levels 
give, (no*" being a curved but a straight line) is a tangent 
or a right line perpend icuic. to the so mi-diameter of the 
earth ; one extreme of which tangent being the point of 
contact, the other will be that of a secant drawn from the 
centre of the earth : and the point which cb termines it, 
will be above the sut face of the earth, and of the true le¬ 
vel, as much as that secant exceeds the radius, or semi¬ 
diameter of the earth. This extremity of the tangent 
is said to be in the apparent level, as being that given by 
the sight; but it is easily reduced to the true level, be¬ 
cause we know by trigonometry, how much each secant 
exceeds the radius ; and because by measuring, we have 
discovered the precise length of that radius. The lise 
of the apparent above the truo level is always propor¬ 
tional to the square of the distance. It was for want of 
the knowledge of this’/ that the ancients were not able to 
reduce the app&ucut level to the true one ; and accord¬ 
ingly, to avoid error, they never levelled above twenty 
feet at once, where such reduction was not necessary. 

By the table since made, it appears, that at the dis¬ 
tance of 100 yards the apparent le\ei is raised above the 
true one about one third of a line ; so that the ancients, 
in this respect were more scrupulous than needful. By 
means of this reduction, we are now able to level distan¬ 
ces of one or two miles at a single operation, which the 
ancients could not do in less than three hundred. 

A table, from which the following table is extracted, 
for shewing the height of the apparent level above the 
true, was calculated by Mr. Ferguson, to the extent of a 
whole degree of agreat circle on the earth’s surface, and 
it agrees so nearly with one of the same sort in Doctor 
Long’s Astronomy, as not to differ quite two inches from 
it at the end of the whole degree, which contains 60 
geographical miles, equal to 69 1-2 English miles—. 
The following table extends to sixty seconds or one 
geographical mile, the same being 6094 feet, whereas 
an English mile is 5280 feet. The second column 
which contains the distance may be reduced to chains 
and links or to rods, yards, or other denomination, as con¬ 
venience may require. 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION 


7 37 


A Table, shewing; the height of the apparent level a~ 
hove the true, at any distance within one minute of a 
degree of a great circle on the earth’s surface ; calcu¬ 
lated to the IQOOdth part of an inch. 


Seconds. 

Feet 


1 


101 


O 

<4> 


203 

o 

3 

o 

304 

* 

\ 4 

+-> 

</* 

406 

c? 

5 

G 

507 

O 

6 

3 

O 

609 

* 

7 

G 

w—* 

c3 

710 

o 

8 

i 

812 

**-> 

9 

u 

914 

o 

10 

O 

1015 

o 

o 

1 1 

y 

1 117 


12 

r"» 

1218 

C--a 

O 

IS 

o 

Pi 

1120 

/—< 

14 

2 

I 42 1 

fi 

15 

o 

1523 

o 

' r. r 

16 

• —4 

1625 


17 

u 

4~> 

1726 

o 

o 

IS 

•*3 

a> 

1828 

O 

19 

7b 

1929 

O 

20 

rt 

2031 

w 

21 

» >-< 

2132 

U-. 

O 

22 

T3 

O 

22 34 

<u 

o 

23 

3 

Si 

2336 

C3 

24 

c3 

<L> 

2437 

4—» 

a? 

♦ 

25 

e 

2539 

G> 

26 

u 

2640 

t rf 
w 

27 

• *».4 

2742 


28 

£ 

2843 


29 


2945 


30 


3047 


7 

; 


Inches. 

Inches. , 

6.8 

0.003 f 

1 6 

0.0 12 j 

8.4 

0.027 j 

3.2 

o 0.047 j 

10.0 

*° 0.074 

4 8 

■p 0.106 

11.6 

« 0.145 j 

6.4 

g 0 189 { 

4.2 

« 0 239 

8 0 

'If 0 295 ; 

2 8 

y 0.357 1 

9.6 

J 0 425 i 

4 4 

0 499 j 

11.2 

”1 0 5 7 9 | 

6 0 

« 0.665 ? 

0.8 

£ 0 7o6 

7.6 

2 0.854 

2 4 

a. 0.947 

9 2 

§* 1 067 

4 0 

« 1 182 

10.8 

S 1-503 

5 6 

© 1.420 

0 4 

-p 1563 

7.2 | 

1.702 

2 0 j 

~ 1 847 ! 

8.8 | 

j~ 2 00 1 

3 6 ! 

2 154 

n.4 

2 316 

5 2 ! 

2 485 

0 0 

2 639' 



























If the distance of the object from the place of the spectator be 


tS r E R N A h V A VI <S- ATIO IT. 


tabL ii continued. 


Seconds. 


31 

32 

33 

34 

35 

36 

37 

38 

39 

40 

41 

42 

43 

44 

45 
45 

47 

48 

49 

50 

51 

52 

53 

54 

55 

56 

57 

58 

59 

60 



o 

■-1 

T i 

IT* 

U 


cJ 

W 

t- 

fcO 

CS 


p 

5 

U) 

CTj 

O 

£ 

Si 

o 

• H 

SI 

£ 



Feet. Inches. 


3148 

6 8 

3250 

1.6 

325 1 

8 4 

3153 

3 0 

3554 

10 0 

3656 

4 8 

3757 

11 6 

3359 

6 4 

3961 

1.2 

40 $2 

8.0 

4164 

2 8 

4265 

9 6 

4367 

4.4 

4468 

J 1 2 

4570 

6 0 

4672 

0 8 

4773 

7.6 

487,5 

2 4 

4976 

9.2 

5078 

4.0 

5179 

10 8 

5281 

5-6 

5383 

0 4 

5484 

7.2 

5586 

2 0 

5637 

8 8 

5 789 

3.6 

5890 

10 4 

5992 

52 

6094 

0 0 


“ • ~t~ TUI 


Inches. 


2 839 
3.026 

3 218 
3 416 

Ja 3.619 
S 3 829 

- 4 045 
a 4.267 

- 4.494 

J§ 4-728 
o 4.967 
g 5 2 12 
•g 5 463 
-3 5 720 

j» 5.983 

- 6 252 

| 6 527 

^ 6 808 
g* 7.094 
0 7 387 

”5 7 685 

o 7 989 
5 8 300 

•I 3 8616 

8 9 38 

£ 9 265 

9 660 
9 940 

10 285 
10 637 















INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


U9 


CHAP. XVI. 

ESTIMATE OF EXPENSES OF ‘THREE SEVERAL CANALS 
AND THEIR APPENDAGES. CANALS OF HOLLAND, THEIR 
SIZE. EXPENSE OF LOCKS AND INCLINED PLANE 
COMPARED. RELATIVE PROPORTIONS OF CANALS . 
DAT's WORK OF EXCAVATION IN CUBIC TARDS. RE¬ 
MARK ON THE CANAL FROM CARDIFF TO MKRTUIR - 
TIDVIL . 

I N' order to give the American reader an idea of the 
expense of making canals in Great Britain, and of 
the mode adopted by engineers, of calculating that ex¬ 
pense ; the following estimates are introduced from 
« Inland Navigation” by J. Phillips, pages 159—60—61 
52 —63—64 ; arid also some miscellaneous remarks 
from the same author pages 584—5. 

4t The estimate of making the Canal from or near 
Tern-Badge, on the River Severn, in the county sf 
Salop, to the Junction at Bridgeford, in the County of 
Stafford : the distance being 31 1*4 miles. Rise 136 
feet 9 inches to the summit. Fall to Bridgeford- 
Bridge 54 feet 8 inches : 

In the intended course of this ca¬ 
nal, between the upper end of run- 
stall Moors, (in the Yalley below Of- 
fl:y Park), and its junction with a 
brook near to Cockmere : the distance 
being a mile and a half: the highest 
point of land being 25 feet high. To 
reduce this to a level 18 yards in 
width, (being the breadth of the tow¬ 
ing-path, canal, and drains) must be 
removed at a mean 198015.84 cubic 
yards, which, at 3d. per yard, will a- 
mountto - - - £2,475 S 111-2 


340 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


The canal is proposed to be 9 yards 
broad at the suriace of the water, and 
6 yards broad at the h’.tom. These 
dimensions, in 31 1-4 miles, will pro¬ 
duce 687637.5 cubic yards, to be re¬ 
moved, which, at 3 d. per yard, will a- 
mount to - - - - - 8,595 9 4 1-2 

The canal, towing-paths, and drains, 
being 18 yards in breadth, in 31 1-4 
miles (deducting one mile for waste 
land), there will be 199 a. 1 r. 20 r. 
to purchase which, at 15/. per acre at 
a mean, will amount to - - 2.985 0 0 

Twenty road bridges, at 80/. each, 

Will be. 1,600 0 0. 

Fifteen water bridges, at 50/. each, 
will be - - - - 7 50 0 0 

Makingtowing paths, drains, gates, 
and fencing, at 10/. per mile - - 312 10 0 

From the highest point of land be¬ 
low Offiey Pc.rk to the river Severn 
(the fall being 136 feet 9 inches), sup¬ 
posing a luck, necessary for every-fall 
of 10 feet, 13 locks will be required, 
which, at 450/ per lock, will amount 
to ----- - 5,850 0 0 

From the said highest point to 
Btidgeford-bridge (the falls being 5 4 
feet 8 inches), in the above mentioned 
proportion, there must be at least five 
locks, which at 450/. each, will a- 

lMOunt to.£2-250 0 0 

Two funnels between each lock, 
making 34 in number, at 10/. each, 
will amount'to - 340 0 o 

Five per cent, upon the whole for 
unforeseen accidents - - - 1,414 3 0 


£26,572 6 4 




INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


I 


141 


“ The estimate of the expense of making* the Junction 
above Bridgeford-Bridge, in the county of Stafford, 
to Winsford- Bridge, in the county of Chester. The 
distance 32 3-4 miles. Rise to the summi* 100 ‘4><'t 
3 1-4 inches. Reduced fail to Winsfoid-Bridge, 284 
feet 1 inch :— 

In the intended course of this canal, 
between the lower end of Charlton 
Moss, and about half a mile below 
Snape, the distance being one n i!e 
and half, the highest summit of I nd 
is an elevation of 25 feet. To reduce 
" this to a level, 18 yards in breadth, 
which is the breadth of the canal, 
towing-paths, and drains, must be re¬ 
moved at a mean 19801584 cubic 
yards, which, at 3d: per yard, amounts 

to.£2,475 3 11 J-2 

The canal is proposed to be nine 
yards broad at the surface of the wa¬ 
ter, and six at the bottom, and five feet 
deep. These dimensions, in 32 3-4 
miles, will produce 72011.8 *fcubic 
yards of earth to be removed, which, 
at 3d. per yard, will CGSt - - 9 002 IS 0 

The canal, towing-paths, and 
drains, at 32 3-4 miles, there will be 
to be purchased 214 acres, which, at 
20/. an acre, will a'mount to - 4,287 5 2 1-2 

Twenty-two road bridges, at 80/, 
each - 1,760 0 0 

Three water bridges, at 50/. each 150 0 0 

Making towing-paths, back-drains, 
gates, and fencing, at 10/. per mile, 

amounts to.£330 0 © 

From the junction above Bridge- 
ford, to the summit in Madeley Park, 

109 feet 3 l 4 inches, supposing a 
lock at every 10 feet necessary, it will 
require ten locks, at 450/. each, 4,500 


0 0 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


142 

t 

From the above summit to Wins- 
ford-bridge, 284 feet, i inch full ; and 
supposing as above, it will want 28 ■) 
locks, at 450/. each, - - - 12,600 0 0 

Two funnels between each lock, 
will be 76, at 10/. each, - * 750 0 O 

1 ive per ccn . upon the whole for 
iinsurcseen accidents - - 1,798 5 0 


Total £37 658 7 2 


u The estimate of making the canal from the junction 
of the River Sow, above Bridgeford to Burton, in the 
county of Safford ; and thence to Wilden Ferry, the 
distance being 27 miles to Burton, and 16 from thence 
to Wilden Ferry. Fall to Wilden Ferry is 209 feet 
4 inches 

The canal is to be nine yards broad 
at the surface of the water, six yards 
at the bottom, and five icet deep : 
these dimension's in 43 miles will pro¬ 
duce 945621 6 cubic j&rds, which, to 
remove, at 3d. per yaid ; amounts to £1 1,820 5 4 

The canal, towing-paths and drains, 

18 yards wide, and 4 3 miles long, 
there will be 281 acres and 2 roods, 

\vhich } at 30/, per acre, comes to 8,415 0 0 

From the above junction to Wil- 
don Ferry, is 209 feet 4 inches fall, 
which will require a lock every 10 
feet, will hd 2) locks, at 4 jQ/ each, lm v; o c 

Two funnels between eachdock are 
required, which make 52, at 10/.each, 
and amount to . - - - :>30 o 0 

Thirty-six road bridges, at 80/. 

each,.2,880 0 0 

Seven water bridges, at 50/. each, 350 0 0 

Towing-paths, back drains, and 






INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


14:' 

fencing, at 10/. per mile,for 43 miles, 
is ----- - 430 o o 

Five per cent, upon the whole for 
unforeseen accidents - - • 1,677 5 0 


Total 435,572 10 4 


in treating cf the canals of Holland, 1 have observed 
hat the sagacious Hollander docs a t make his ecu..Is 
all of one size or dimension, but proportions them to 
their respective traffic, i hits \ have there instanced 
one mile of canal whose square surface does not exceed 
two acres of land, and which ye.udy netts 625/. On 
these canals barges are used, even so.small as 5 or 6 
tons each. 

According to the’ general application to the British 
parliament ior canals, the pfeop'e of tins country seem 
to covet them ail of the same size, as if all were in¬ 
tended for busine f .-> on an equal scale. On the contra¬ 
ry, we should imi, e tke ti Fifty Dutchman in having 
some smaller can Js, and snudlei barges o* c 5 to 1 2 tons 
each, which would answer all pap poses for short or cross 
navigation, and would not only take up less land, but 
would be made at much less expense ; and I should 
suppose that a barge or 4 ot 5 feet wide, 20 to 25 feet 
long, and 2 »-2 to 3 feet d ep, carrying 6 to 8 tons, 
Would be sufficient for such purposes. 

The inclined pi ne, instead cf locks, was first noticed 
by me in the description of the Chinese method, in my 
quarto volume ; and I am very happy to find that seve¬ 
ral very eminent engineers nave made a considerable 
improvement on it, and among them the ingenious 
Mr. Fulton. 

I shall not enter into an argument with Mess. Fulton, 
Tr.tham, and Chapman on tne inclined plane, which 
they have separately treated on at large, it being foreign 
to my present abridgement, but it may not he impro¬ 
per just to notice, in us short a manner as possioie, 





144 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


Mr. Fulton’s statement of different costs in the old lock 
system, (as he calls it) and the plane in rising 100 feet. 

The usual expense of locks, he says, for 25 ton boats 
is 70/. per foot, and for 40 ton boats, iCO/, per foot, 
which in the first case will c st 7000/ and in the second 
10.000'. Now his pi no on an ancle of 20 deg. will cost 
only 2294/. 14s. eoc cquently a saving in the first in¬ 
stance of 47o5/. 6' a ti in *be second instance 77057. 
6. The paFUGuk<>f ihetxpenfie.pl erecting the in- 
Corn'd plane are need! s>. ;u re, a Mr. Fulton has par- 
ticui a iy inse’iul it in hi . ok, .« t ne also observes, in 
the case of a trade to . dt cti .01 g, the loaded boats 
rar ing those that art « p n>. tire u b-pit, the drum, 
wheel, ai d nil tout part < me m u: me for creating 
power m y be saved, ao»«*in;!.b.g u> ' 9/.t!e con tin gent 
expenses being iikev\ : se reoueea m proportion, in 
which Cc se a double h , ne:> pnvv. to the height of 100 
feet \v< u;d cost oriv 1605/ 16.-. and by this machine, in 
the descending trade, s-QO t ns ' ii’ be done in 12 hours. 

On the Grand Flunk Can 1 < r t kes generally five 
minutes to p -san 8 t et lock, which, to rise 100 feet at 
that late, wifi be 6* minutes. M Fulton says he can 
pass the 100 icet in height by ins double plant in four 
minutes. 

A canal 60 feet wide at top and 5 feet deep, formed 
on an angle of 78 deg. will be 47 ,ect wide at bottom, 
and the digging will be SO cubic yauls oi earth lor one 
yard running measure. 

The canal from Cardiff to Merhii-Tidvil is com¬ 
pleted, and a fleet of canal boats ha\e armed at Cardiff 
laden with the produce of the iron-works there, to the 
great joy of the whole town The rude u at ks, through 
which the canal passes in some places are constantly 
improving, from the happy and healthful toil of the hus¬ 
bandman, and in a few years will be forgotten in a gar¬ 
den of verdure and fertility This canal ia 25 miles 
long ; it passes along the sides of stupendous moun¬ 
tains. Nothing appears more extraordinaiy than, fY. m 
a boat navigating this canai, to (k down on the mer 
Taaff, dashing among the locks 100 yards below. Hie 


\ 


IttTBitNAL NAVIGATION. . 4 

fall from Merthir-Tidvil to Cardiff is nearly 66' fee' 
The first barge that arrived at Cardiff was finely deco 
rated with colors, and was navigated from the Moiling - 
riffieid works by Mr. Bird, sen. water-oailiff of Car¬ 
diff. 



CHAP. XVII. 


MISCELLANEOUS PARTICULARS OF INFOftMA TlON, RE. 
SPECKING ‘THE MIDDLESEX CANAL NEAR BOSTON) IN 
THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS, 

T HE following information and particulars respect¬ 
ing the Middlesex canal, were obtained in the 
Spring of 1816, by two ol the commissioners, previous¬ 
ly appointed by the Legislature of t he State cf New- 
York to explore the route of the Great Western and 
the Northern canals in that State, who visited and care¬ 
fully examined the Middlesex canal throughout its 
whole extent, and committed to writing on the spot the 
result of their own observations as well as the answers 
to all their enquiries, which were obligingly given by 
the very intelligent agent (Mr. Sullivan) of the canal 
company. 

The canal is 27 miles long, and connects the tide¬ 
water, in Boston harbor at Charleston, with the .Merri¬ 
mack river. The water in the canal Is 30 feet wide at 
its surface, 20 feet atils bottom, and 3 feet deep. The 
Concord or Sudbury river crosses the line of the canal 
or. the summit-level, 22 miles from Charleston, and 5 
miles from the junction of the canal with the Merri¬ 
mack, and wholly supplies it with water for locking 
down each way from the summit-level. From tide¬ 
water to the summit-level is an ascent of 104 feet, and 
from thence to the Merrimack a descent of 32 feet. 
There are, in all, 20 locks of different lifts, of whick 

o 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


MG 


the highest is 12 feet. These locks are 75 feet long 
in the clear, 10 feet wide at the bottom, and 11 feet at 
the top. 

Boats for the transportation of merchandize and pro¬ 
duce carry 14 tons and are drawn by one horse the 
whole length in 5 hours coming down, and in 7 hours 
going up. To each boat there are 3 men ; 2 however, 
are.sufficient to manage the boat on the canal, the other 
being’ wanted only on the Merrimack river. From the 
surifmit-level down the canal there is a current which 
exceeds in no place half a mile per hour, there being a 
fall or descent in the canal of one inch per mile. The 
expense of transporting a ton the whole length of the 
canal is £,3 50 , of which sum Si ^0 is tell, and Si 80 is 
freight. 

Across the canal thete are 50 bri :ges made by the 
canal company; they consist of two r'.cne abutments 
(one on each side of the canal) 20 lea apart: fiom one 
cf 1 ese abutments to the other, arc laid sills or string- 
picces of wood covered with plank, and of sufficient 
height for the towing horses to pass under. The tow r - 
mg-path under the bridges occupies 6 or 7 feet. 

1 wo miles from the lower end of the canal, Mystick 
liver, a; turnpike road, and the canal run a little distance 
parallel with each other, the road being between the ca¬ 
nal and river. Here, is afibided a good opportunity of 
comparing the relative advantages of these three modes 
of conveyance. 


Heaver boats than those above mentioned, are used 
cr. the canal for transporting fire wood, lumber, See. ; 
t y are shaped' like a scow, are 75 feet long, 9 1-2 feet 
wide, and can y 25 tons of wood. 

The towing-path L generally 8 feet wide so that hor¬ 
ses and oxen m y easily pass each other On the op¬ 
posite side of the canal where a towing-path is not 
wanted, the upper smiacc of the bank cr embankment 
is 5 feet wide, and this is found to be sufficient. A 
branch-can or side cut is made to connect the main 
canal with Mystic Hvev nccu»Mcdford j this is owned 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


147 


by a separate company, and 13 principally used foi 
transporting timber to Medford for ship-building. 

The Canal company was incorporated in 1789 and 
the next year commenced the work of making the ca¬ 
nal. When the canal was begun the price of labor by 
thc month was $8. The canal was opened for use m 
1804, tho* not completed in 1808, when Mr. Sullivan 
took charge of it." Some repairs and new const rue tL v 
have been made every year since In assessments up¬ 
on the proprietors, there has been laid opt on the can d 
$528,000 and about 50,000 more, derived from to; s, 
has been expended in buildings, wharves, See.' At 
Medford is a swivel bridge which is found to be vc v in¬ 
convenient. The principal articles tr nsported on tl o 
canal are wood, timber, lumber of all kinds, pot r- 1 
pearl ashes, rye, oats, provisions, and building ston > 
from the Merrimack to Boston. Last year 12 OC 
cords of wood were transported down thy canal, and. 
there are more tons of timber in rafts brought dow-g 
than of wood, 

More than one half of the whole length of the canal 


is more or less embanked or raised above the natural 
surface of the ground. Above Medford is ah aqueduct 
across the Mystick river, of which the abutments are 
iOO feet apart, and between them ary three stone piers, 
each 8 feet thick for supporting the aqueduct. The 
tide flows up the Mystick river above this place. The 
surface of the water m the aqueduct, is 10 feet above 
the surface of the water in the river below, at high wa¬ 
ter. This aqueduct consists of a kind of trough made 
of timber and pknk which has stood 16 years, but is 
beginning to decay. The timber is framed together in 
the usual way of carpenters work by tenants and mor¬ 
tises, and strengthened by braces. As tenants soon rot 
and give way, it might have been made on a belter and 
more durable construction with knees and bolts in the. 
manner of ship building. At the upper end of the 
aqueduct, is a lock of 12 feet lift. 

Mr. We stun an English engineer took the levels of 
die whole length of the line of this canal, part of the 


148 


INTERNAL. NAVIGATION* 


way on two routes. He estimated the expense of mak¬ 
ing it at £100,COO sterling. The company went on to 
make the canal without any further aid from any Euro¬ 
pean engineer, and found Mr. Weston*s levels to b« 
correct. 

Over Syms* river is an aq ’uct, of which the abut¬ 
ments are-l20 feat apart, witn ’se intervening piers. 
The water in tne aqueduct is 3> et higher than the 
water in the st- cam below. Thest xjueducts all afford 
convenient waste-weirs. When the water is not drawn 
off from t l e canal at the commencement of winter, 
the expansion of its f ^ing spreads and injures the 
timbers of the aqueducts wherefore it is the practice 
just before winter sets in, u draw off about one third of 
ti c water. 

had a mile above the last mentioned aqueduct is 
deep-cutting 40 rods in length through loose sand and 
grave I. In the deepest part the excavation is 20 feet 
below the natur i surface of the o th ; and the part ex- 
car ated is he^e, ft m 90 to 100 leet in width at the top 
The earth was chiefly.carried av yin wheel-harrows, 
some in carts to an embankment just above, on the 
right side. Half a mile higher up, the earth is very 
porous, and on the right side, the water leaks out 
through or under an embankment: this might have 
been prevented by putting 2 or 3 feet of water-tight 
stuff in. the bottom of the canal. 

Near this place are two water-gates by which the 
Water of the canal is drawn off in the spring for the 
purpose of clearing cut the earth, stones, kc. which 
fall into it and injure the navigation. The expense of 
this,is perhaps $500 a year. 

Mr. Sullivan states that he has had a steam boat on 
the Merrimack river for the purpose of towing boats ; 
he found that a man by a rope could easily hold a boat in 
tow immediately astern of the steam boat, which, it 
would require a horse on the bank of tho river, to tow 
with the same velocity : such; in his opinion, is the 
great diminution of the resistance of the water to the 
head of a boat which is drawn in the wake of another 
heat. 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


149 


»> 

For some weeks in the spring the canal leaks much 
more than it does the remainder of the season : this is 
because the banks had been recently swelled and loos¬ 
ened by the action of the frost. Th.ee men with a 
horse and boat are, in the summer constantly employed 
to keep the banks and pa^ticulaiiy the towing-path in 
order. 

The lards within six miles of the canal on each side, 
have increased one third in price ; while land in 
the country generally retains its former value. In the 
State of New-Hanrpshire, throtigh which the Merri¬ 
mack flows, timber is now worth from 1 to 3 dollars per 
ton standing ; before the canal was made it was worth 
nothing ; so that in the article of timber alone that 
State is supposed to have Deen benefited to the amount 
of at least 5,000,000 of dollars. The wood-land there, 
has risen in price, since the opening of the canal, horn 
$2 per acre to !g6, g8 and g iO per acre 

In Woburn, a pretty high embankment* which was 
made in the winter, across a marsh, sunk down in the 
spring at the breaking up of the frost, so that its top was 
just level with the natural earth : another embankment 
was then raised upon it. Near this place the canal, by 
a deep-cutting of 25 feet, passes through a kill. An 
embankment at Maple meadow in the town of Wil¬ 
mington is near 80 rods long and 25 feet high to the 
lop of the towing-path. At a place called the sinking 
meadow in the above named town, an embankment is 
made across a marsh of about 3© rods in extent. When 
this embankment was commenced, it was found that 
the dirt and stuff carried on to form the embankment 
kept gradually sinking into the marsh ; when measures 
were taken to ascertain how much it would sink : the 
laborers continued to carry on stuff’which gradually 
went down until the whole embankment sunk to the 
depth of 60 fuel ! The great expense of making this 
embankment across the marsh might have been fore¬ 
seen arid prevented. The depth and softness of the 
marsh might have been ascertained by souding it with 
an iron rod, and by conducting the canal circuitously a- 


150 


XNTEfttfAL NAVIGATION. 


round its margin, a solid foundation might have been 
secured. 

By the act of incorporation, the Legislature authori¬ 
zed the company to occupy 5 rods cd End in width on 
one side of the centre of the canal, and 3 rods on the ci¬ 
ther. .Ifthe owners,of the land did not apply for pay 
within a year, it v«as deemed a denude;?. In me state¬ 
ment of monies expended, before ramie, are. included 
the costs of several law-suits, the building of boats, of 
offices, the purchase of TO acres of • ad, md the erec¬ 
tion of mills at Billet icu. The End and mills cost S 
000. There is no income derived from hiring out wa¬ 
ter privileges for hydraulic operations. The canal re¬ 
ceives its whole supply of water from the Concord ri¬ 
ver ; and if any were let out hr hydraulic purposes, a 
current would be created, the inconveniencies of which 
would probably more than counterbalance all the advan¬ 
tages oi income. 

Either through design or accident, logs, stumps and 
sticks were in some places left in the banks when the 
canal was made ; and there, having now become rotten, 
leave unsound places through which the water escape';. 
A'great part of the canal was made by contractors in 
small parts or jobs, and where tan jobs of embankment 
met each other, the wo.kmen did not, i:t sonic cases, 
take the precaution to prevent the stones, as v- y threw 
on the staff, from roiling down together from each end 
of the separate job, and thereby forming a loose porous 
and leaky place in the embankment. 

The aqueduct over the Shawsheen l iver is, between 
the abutments, 140 feet. The water in it, is 35 feet 
higher than the surface of the river below. This aque¬ 
duct has been made 20 years ; it is, like the other aque¬ 
ducts on this canal, made of wood, and is so much de¬ 
cayed as to require temporary props to support it — 
There are three piers between the abutments, and, be¬ 
tween the outside pier and the abutment on each side, 
there is a kind of wot den pier. On the inside or river 
side of both the abutments, and on b»th sides of the 
piers, at suitable distances, large horizontal timbers are 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


151 


embedded which serve to support the lower ends of the 
aqueduct braces : when these timbers become rotten the 
stone work will probably fall down. From each end of 
this aqueduct to the distance of 500 feet is an embank¬ 
ment nearly 35 feet high. 

During the war, the timber used to repair the Consti¬ 
tution Frigate was brought down the canal to Boston, and 
that used to build the Independence seventy-four, ex¬ 
cept the live oak, was procured through the same chan¬ 
nel, as also were many of the masts and spars, Stc. which 
were furnished at Boston to our vessels of war. With¬ 
out the canal, this part of the country could not have 
supplied these necessary, articles, 

In approaching the Concord river, the canal passes 
through half a mile of deep-cutting, 800 feet of which 
is excavated by blasting through a hard granite rock.— 
In some places, this blasting was carried 7 feet into the 
rock and from 14 to 20 feet wide. The deep-cutting 
for this half mile, is from 12 to 20 Feel, 

Across the Concord river, a few rods below the line 
of the canal, a dam i 50 feet long and 8 feet high is made. 
This, creates a pond out of whic h, through the deep- 
cutting last mentioned, the water flows and supplies the 
canal 22 miles to Charleston at the tkle-water. From 
the other side of ihe pond the water flows through the 
canal 5 miles to the Merrimack river. The water w hich 
supplies the 22 miles of canal passes through a hori¬ 
zontal aperture of 6 feet by 1. with a head of 2 feet wa¬ 
ter above the upper side of the aperture. The towing- 
path is carried across the pond by means of a floating 
bridge ; a part of which, is occasionally drawn up to let 
the logs, timber and drift wood which collect above pass 
through. There are two waste-gates in the clam, by 
whicn the height of the water in the pond can, in some 
measure, be regulated. 

In Chelmsford, within 60 rods of the Merri mack, is 
an aqueduct, of 'which the abutments are 110 feet apart, 
and there are 10 wooden piers to support it. Tile wa¬ 
ter in the aqueduct is 16 ieet higher than the sa>eam 

beiow. Between this aoueduct and the Merrimack, is a 

* 


152 


INTERNAL NAVIGATION. 


fall of 32 feetj and 3 locks of durable stone masonry in 
tarras mortar. Where the canal joins the Merrimack, 
a bason is excavated 10 or 12 feet below the natural 
surface of the earth, and 5 feet below the surface of the 
river at low water. The extent of the bason is about 
200 feet on the shore of the river, and half that distance 
on a line at right angles with the shore, being nearly 
semi-circular. There are in all 7 aqueducts on the 
canal, but those not mentioned above are very incon¬ 
siderable: there are also several culverts.—Grass grows 
in the bottom of the canal and obstructs the passage of 
the water in autum to such a degree, that at the lower 
end of the canal 22 miles from its source, the water is 
sometimes 9 inches lower than it otherwise would be. 
To remedy this inconvenience a man is employed, who 
•wades along the canal and mows off the grass under 
water with a scythe. During the winter season while 
the canal was not used, the musk-rats would some¬ 
times burrow into and endanger the breaking of the 
banks ; in consequence of which the company had offer¬ 
ed a bounty of 50 cents for every one that should be des¬ 
troyed within a certain distance from the canal. This 
bounty had caused their destruction to such an extent 
that very little apprehension was entertained of their 
doing injury. 

It w r as the original design of the company to employ 
three officers on the canal, viz. a Superintendent, a 
Treasurer and Clerk ; but that project has been aban¬ 
doned, and those three officers are now united in Mr. 
Sullivan. His compensation is a salary of § 1500 a year, 
besides 5 per cent on all the tolls or receipts, which are 
warranted not to fall short of §20,000 p er annum. 

The receipts of the company from the canal are ra¬ 
pidly increasing. The int ome in 1808, was $ 7000 . in 
1809, §9000, in 1810, §14,000, in 1811, §17,00o, last 
year §25,000, and this year (1816) it will undoubted.y> 
exceed §30,000. 


REPORT 

OF THE 

SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY, 

ON THE SUBJEC T OF 

PUBLIC ROADS 

AND 

CANALS: 

MADE 

IN PURSUANCE OF A RESOLUTION OF 


SENATE, OF MARCH 2d, 180f. 


2 


IN SENATE- 

OF 

THE UNITED STATES. 

January 15th, 1816. 


On motion of Mr. Horsey, 

dissolved, That eight hundred copies of the following 
papers, relative to public roads and canals, be printed; 
for the use of both Houses of Congress, viz. 

A resolution of the Senate of the 2d of March, 1807. 
A letter from the Secretary of the Treasury. 

Report of the same. 

Mr. Latrobe’s communication marked E. 

Mr. Fulton’s letter marked F. 

Attest, 


CHARLES CUTTS, Secretary. 








3 


In Senate of the United States , 

March td, 180F. 

Resolved , That the secretary of the treasury he di¬ 
rected to prepare, and report to the senate, at their next 
session, a plan for the application of such means as are 
within the power of congress, to the purposes of open¬ 
ing roads and making canals; together with a state¬ 
ment of the undertakings of that nature, which, as ob¬ 
jects of public improvement, may require and deserve 
the aid of government; and also a statement of works 
of the nature mentioned, which have been commenced, 
the progress which ha» been ma£e in them, and the 
means and prospect of their being completed; and 
such information as, in the opinion of the secretary, 
shall be material, in relation to the objects of this resc- 
lion. 

Attest, 


SAMUEL A, OTIS, Secretary- 


4 


Treasury Department , 

Afiril Athy 1808. 

SIR, 

I have the honour to transmit a report respecting 
roads and canals, prepared in obedience to the resolution 
©f the senate of the 2d of March, 1807. It has been 
unavoidably delayed much later than was desirable, or 
had been expected. Although early steps had been ta¬ 
ken for obtaining the necessary information, the most 
important documents were not received till long after 
the commencement of this session ; some, indeed, 
within the last ten days. To analyze the whole, to se¬ 
lect, arrange, and condense the most interesting facts, 
was also a work of some labour. Time has not per¬ 
mitted to present the report in a more satisfactory 
form: but the mass of facts which has been collected 
will, it is hoped, be of some public utility. 

I have the honour to be, 

With great respect, 

Sir, 

Your most obedient servant, 

ALBERT GALLATIN. 

The honourable George Clinton , 

President of the Senate, 


% 



REPORT, &c. 


The Secretary of the Treasury , in obedience lo the re¬ 
solution of the Senate of the 2d of March , 1807, 
respectfully submits the following report on roads and 
canals . 

THE general utility of artificial roads and canals, is 
at this time so universally admitted, as hardly to re¬ 
quire any additional proofs. It is sufficiently evident, 
that whenever the annual expense of transportation on 
a certain route, in its natural state, exceeds the interest 
on the capital employed in improving the communica¬ 
tion and the annual expense of transportation, (exclu¬ 
sively of the tolls,) by the improved route, the difference 
i§L an annual additional income to the nation. Nor does, 
in that case, the general result vary, although the tolls 
may not have been fixed at a rate sufficient to pay to the 
undertakers the interest on the capital laid out. They, 
indeed, when that happens, lose ; but the community is 
nevertheless bene fitted by the undertaking The ge¬ 
neral gain is not confined to the difference between the 
expenses of the transportation of those articles which 
had been formerly conveyed by that route but many 
which were brought to market by other channels, will 
then find a new and more advantageous direction ; and 
those which, on account of their distance or weight, 
could not be transported in any manner whatever, will 
acquire a value, and become a clear addition to the na¬ 
tional wealth. Those and many other advantages have 
become so obvious, that in countries possessed cf a large 
capital, where property is sufficiently secure to induce 
individuals to lay out that capital on permanent under¬ 
takings, and where a compact population creates an ex¬ 
tensive commercial intercourse, within short distances, 

Aa 2 


6 


those improvements may often, in ordinary cases, be 
left to individual exertion, without any direct aid from 
government. 

There are, however, some circumstances which, 
whilst they render the facility of communication* 
throughout the United States an object of primary im¬ 
portance, naturally check the application ol private 
capital and enterprise, to improvements on a large 
scale. 

The price of labour is not considered as a formidable 
obstacle, because whatever it may be, it equally affects 
the expense of transportation, which is saved by the 
improvement, and that of effecting the improvement 
itself. The want of practical knowledge is no longer 
felt: and the occasional influence of mistaken local in¬ 
terests, in sometimes thwarting or giving an improper 
direction to public improvements arises from the nature 
of man, and is common to all countries. The great 
demand for capital in the United States, and the extent 
of territory compared with the population are, it is be¬ 
lieved, the true causes which prevent new undertakings, 
and render those already accomplished less profitable 
than had been expected. 

1. Notwithstanding the great increase of capital 
during the last fifteen years, the objects for which it is 
required continue to be more numerous, and its appli¬ 
cation is generally more profitable than in Europe. A 
small portion, therefore, is applied to objects which of¬ 
fer only the prospect of remote and moderate profit, 
And it also happens that a less sum being subscribed at 
first than is actually requisite for completing the work, 
this proceeds slowly; the capital applied remains un¬ 
productive for a much longer time than was necessary, 
surd the interest accruing during that period becomes, 
in fact, an injurious addition to the real expense of the 
undertaking. 

2. The present population of the United States, com¬ 
pared with the .extent of territory over which it is 
spread, does not, except in the vicinity of the sea*ports, 
admit that extensive commercial intercourse within 


7 


short distances, which, in England and some other coun¬ 
tries, forms the principal support of artificial roads and 
canals. With a few exceptions canals, particularly, 
cannot in America be undertaken with a view solely to 
the intercourse between the two extremes of, and along 
the intermediate ground which they occupy. It is ne¬ 
cessary, in order to be productive, that the canal should 
open a communication with a natural extensive naviga¬ 
tion which will flow through that qew channel. It fol¬ 
lows, th? ' whenever that navigation requires to be im¬ 
proved i when it might at some distance be connected 
by another canal to another navigation, the first canal 
wnl remain comparatively unproductive, until the other 
improvements are effected—until the other canal is also 
completed. Thus the intended carut]between the Che¬ 
sapeake and Delaware will be deprived of the additional 
benefit arising from the intercourse between New-York 
and the Chesapeake, until an inland navigation shall 
have been opened between the Delaware and New-York. 
Thus the expensive canals completed around the falls of 
Potomac will become more and more productive, in 
proportion to the improvement, first of the navigation 
of the upper branches of the l iver, and then of its com- 
mun,cation *vith the western waters. Some works al¬ 
ready executed are unprofitable, many more remain un¬ 
attempted, because their ultimate unproductiveness de¬ 
pends on other improvements, too extensive or too dis¬ 
tant to be embraced by the same individuals. 

The general government can alone remove these ob¬ 
stacles. 

With resources amply sufficient for the completion 
of every practicable improvement, it will always supply 
the capital wanted for any work which it may undertake, 
as fast as the work itself c^n progress, avoiding thereby 
the ruinous loss of interest on a dormant capital, and re¬ 
ducing the real expense to its lowe t - ate. 

With these resources, and embracing the whole U- 
nion, it will complete, on any given line, all the im¬ 
provements, however distant, which may be necessary 
to render the whole productive, and eminently beneficial. 


8 


The early and efficient aid of the federal government 
is recommended by stiii mote important considerations. 
The inconveniences, complaints, and perhaps dangers, 
Which may result from a vast extent of territory, can no 
otherwise be radically removed, or prevented, than by 
opening speedy and easy communications through ail 
its parts. Good roads and canals will shorten distances ; 
facilitate commercial and personal intercourse ; and 
unite, by a still more intimate community of interests, 
the most remote quarters of the United States. No o- 
iher single operation within the power of government 
can more effectually tend to strengthen and perpetuate 
that union, which secures external independence, do¬ 
mestic peace, and internal liberty. 

With that view of the subject, the facts respecting 
canals, which have been collected in pursuance of the 
resolution of the senate, have been arranged under the 
following heads: 

1. Great canals, from north to south, along the Atlan¬ 
tic sea coast. 

2. Communications between the Atlantic and wes¬ 
tern water*. 

3. Communications between the Atlantic waters and 
those of the great lakes, and river St. Lawrence. 

4. Interior canals. 


GREAT CANALS ALONG THE ATLANTIC SEA COAST. 

The map of the United States will show that they 
possess a tide-water inland navigation, secure from 
storms and enemies ; and which, from Massachusetts 
to the southern extremity of Georgia, is principally if 
not solely interrupted by four necks of land. These are 
the isthmus of Barnstable; that part of New-Jersey 
which extends from the Rariton to the Delaware ; the 
peninsula between the Delaware and the Chesapeake; 
and that low and marshy tract which divides the Chesa¬ 
peake from Albermarle Sound. It is ascertained that' 


a navigation for sea vessels, drawing eight feet of water, 
may be effected across the three last; and a canal is al¬ 
so believed to be practicable, not perhaps across the isth¬ 
mus of Barnstable, but from live harbour of Boston to 
that of Rhode-Inland. The Massachusetts canal would 
be about twenty-six ; the New Jersey about twenty- 
eight ; and each of the two southern about twenty-two 
miles in length ; making, altogether, less than one hun¬ 
dred miles. 

Should this great work, the expense of which, as will 
hereafter be shown, is estimated at about three millions 
of dollars, be accomplished, a sea vessel, entering the 
first canal in the harbour of Boston, would, through the 
bay of Rhode-Island, Long-Island Sound, and the har¬ 
bour of New-York, reach Brunswick on the Rariton ; 
thence pass through the second canal to Trenton on the 
Delaware, down that river to Christiana or New-Castle, 
and, through the third canal, to Kik River and the Che¬ 
sapeake j whence, sailing down that bay and up Eliza¬ 
beth River, it would, through the fourth canal, enter the 
Albermarle Sound, and, by Pamptico, Core, and Rogue 
Sounds, reach Beaufort and Swansborough in North- 
Carolina. From the last mentioned place the inland 
navigation, through Stumpy and Toomer’s Sounds, is 
continued, with a diminished draft of water, and by cut¬ 
ting two low and nartow necks, not exceeding three 
miles together, to Cape Fear River ; and thence, by an 
open but short and direct run along the coast, is reach¬ 
ed that chain of islands between which and the main 
the inland navigation is continued to St. Mary’s along 
the coast of Soutn-Carolin.i and Georgia. It is unne¬ 
cessary to add any comments on the utility of the work, 
in peace or war, for the transportation of merchandize 
or the conveyance of persons. 

The several papers under the letter (A) herewith 
transmitted, contain the information which has been re¬ 
ceived on those several intended communications. The 
substance will now be stated. 


10 


I. Massachusetts CanaL 

2. Sandwich isthmus, between Barnstable Bay oft the 
north, and Buzzard’s Bay on the south, had first attract¬ 
ed the public attention. Surveys and levels were taken 
for the purpose of ascertaining the practability of open¬ 
ing a cross cut, to be supplied by the sea itself, from the 
mouth of Back River, in Buzzard’s Bay, to the mouth 
of Scusset River, in Barnstable Bay. 

The distance was found to exceed seven miles ; the 
elevation of the highest intermediate ground is forty 
feet above low-water mark in Barnstable Bay; the depth 
of water at the mouth of Back River does not at low wa¬ 
ter exceed seven feet and a half; and the channel to 
that spot through Buzzard Bay is obstructed by shoals. 
The tide, which rises but three feet and a half in that 
bay, rises three hours and a half later and more than 
eighteen feet in that of Barnstable. The shore on whir h 
that formidable tide would operate is an open beach, 
without any harbour or shelter whatever. Independent 
of other obstacles, it was apprehended that the same na¬ 
tural causes which had formed the isthmus might fill 
the canal or make a bar at its entrance, and the project 
seems to have been abandoned* 

2. The ground was also examined between Barnsta¬ 
ble harbour on the north, and Hyannus harbour on the 
south, at some distance east of Sandwich. The breadth 
of the peninsula does not exceed here four miles and a 
half, and there would be an harboer at each end of the 
canal. The same difference exists in the tides, which 
rise four feet in Hyannus, and sixteen feet in Barnstable 
harbour. The entrance of this is obstructed by shoals ; 
buc the great obstacle to a cross cut is the elevation of 
the intermediate ground, estimated at eighty feet above 
tide water. Navigable ponds on that high ground might 
perhaps form part of a lock canal and supply the re¬ 
mainder with water. But a canal frozen in winter would 
rot have effected the great object in view, which was to 
enable vessels from sea to proceed in winter from Mat¬ 
thias Vineyard to Boston, without sailing around Cape 


11 


Cod. Although the difficulty of the navigation from 
Boston to Barnstable diminishes the utility of this com¬ 
ma nica* ion, as one of the great links in this line of in¬ 
land navigation, it may be resorted to should that which 
will be next mentioned prove impracticable for sea ves¬ 
sels. 

3. The attention of the legislature of Massachusetts, 
under whose authority the grounds at Sandwich and 
Barnstable had been examined, has lately been turned 
to a direct communication between Weymouth landing, 
within the harbour of Boston and Taunton Rivet, which 
empties into the bay of Rnode-Island. A favourable 
report has been made dining the last session, of which 
a copy has lately been obtained 

The distance fiom tide water to tide water is 26 miles 
by one route, anu 23 1-4 miles by another. The high¬ 
est intermediate ground is 133 feet above tide water, 
but may be reduced ten feet by digging to that depth 
the length of a mile. Two ponds, known by the name 
ol Weymouth and Cramberry, the largest and least ele¬ 
vated of which covers five hundred acres, and is 14 feet 
higher thm the summit of the proposed canal, will sup¬ 
ply the upper locks with water by feeders four miles 
long. Whether the quantity of water contained in those 
ponds, and estimated equal to a daily supply of 450,000 
cubic feet, will be sufficient for a sloop navigation ; and 
whether any other ponds or streams may be brought in 
aid, does not seem to be fully ascertained. After de¬ 
scending twenty feet towards Weymouth and seventy 
towards Taunton, an ample supply for the lower locks 
will be derived from other large poods, the principal of 
which are known by the names of Braintree and Nip- 
pinitic. ; 

The expense may, on a supposition that the route is 
partly through a rocky soil, be estimated as follows: 
Digging 26 miles at 30,000 dollars a mile, 8? 80,000 
Lockage 260 feet at 1,250 dollars afoot, 325,000 

Feeders, purchase of land, &c» 145,000 


5,250,00# 



12 


II. New-Jtrseij Canal. 

A company was incorporated some years ago, by the 
Legislature of New* Jersey, for opening a canal be¬ 
tween the Rariton and the Delaware. Acting under 
the erroneous opinion, that the navigation of small riv¬ 
ers might be improved, and used as a canal, the compa¬ 
ny intended to have united, by a cross cut of one mile, 
the Assampink, or Trenton Creek, with Stoney Brook, 
a branch of Millstone River... and to have descended 
Trenton Creek, to the Delaware, and Stoney Brook, 
and Millstone River to the Rariton. The capital which 
was inadequate, was not paid ; hut their survey of the 
intended route has shewn the practicability of a canal 
for sea vessels, on a proper plan. 

The distance from Brunswick to Trenton, is twenty- 
six miles ; and the only obstacle in the way, is the 
“ Sand Hills,” some distance west of Brunswick ; these 
may it is said be avoided by a deviation, which would 
not increase the distance more than two miles; and 
they may at all events be perforated, as has been done 
by the Turnpike Company, who have opened a road on 
a straight line between the tw r o towns without having in 
any place an angle of ascent, of more than three de¬ 
grees. 

The highest intei mediate ground between Assam- 
pink, ana Stoney Brook, is only fifty feet above tide 
water ; and it is suggested, that the summit level may 
be taken seven feet lower, cutting seven miles through 
a level meadow, between tlie confluence of the As¬ 
sampink, and Shippetankin Creeks, and Rowley’s Mill, 
near the confluence of Stoney Brook, and Millstone 
River. 

An adequate supply of water will be dr^wn by short 
feeders from Pniiipp’s Springs, Trenton Creek, Stoney 
Brook, and Millstone River, an of which are more ele¬ 
vated, than the route of the canal, the “ Sand Hills,” 
excepted. 

The depth of water at the two extremities of the ca¬ 
nal taken at low water, are feet at Brunswick, 

and ten feet at Latnberion, one mile below Trenton. 


13 


The expenses may be estimated as followeth : 
Digging 28 miles, at 20,000 dollars per 

mile, 560,000 eg 

Lockage 100 feet, (probably less.) at 

1,250 dollars per foot, 125,000 00 

Feeders, purchase of land, and water 

rights, 115,000 09 


g 800 000 00 


III\ Delaware , and Chesapeake Canal. 

A ompany incoiporated by the States of Delaware 
<.ud Maiyland, for opening this canal, has commenced 
its operations, now suspended for want of funds. 

The canal will commence at Welsh Foint on Elk 
River, an arm of the Chesapeake, and terminate at a 
distance of twenty-two miles on Christiana Creek, a 
branch of the Delaware. At low water, the depth of 
water in Christiana, is nine feet, and in Elk, twelve feet, 
within one hundred feet from the shove ; the tide rises 
four feet in both rivers. The canal n ight, without in¬ 
creasing the distance, be conducted to New-Castle, on 
the Delaware itself, instead of ending at Christiana 
Creek. 

The highest intermediate ground, over which the 
canal will be carried cn a level of thirteen miles in 
length, is seventy-four feet above tide water; the de¬ 
scent being efi’ec ted by nine locks on each side. Th® 
digging is generally easy ; no expensive aqueducts or 
bridges, nor any other obstacles, but these which have 
already been overcome, in digging the feeder through 
a very rocky soil. 

The supply of water drawn from Elk River, by a 
feeder six miles in le ngth, already completed, which is 
itself a boat canal, three and a half feet deep, united by 
a lock of ten feet lift with tl e main canal, is calculated 
t® fill daily one I undr cd and fcity-fciu lucks ; a quantity 

kb 





14 


ty sufficient on an average, for the daily passage of 
twenty-four vessels. A reservoir covering thb ty, and 
which may be increased to one hundred and fifty acres, 
will supply occasional deficiencies ; other reservoirs 
inay be added, and Christiana, and White Clay Creeks, 
may hereafter be brought in aid of Elk River, if the 
supply should prove too scanty for an increased naviga¬ 
tion. 

The canal twenty-six feet wide at.the bottom, and 
fifty at the top on the water line, being dug at the.depth 
of eight feet, is intended for vessels of forty to seventy 
tons, drawing seven and a half feet water; but the 
banks twenty feet wide for towing paths, and one of 
which may be converted into a turnpike road, being 
raised three feet above the level of the water, will, by 
increasing the height of the lock gaics one foot, admit 
a depth of nine feet of water, in the canal, at which 
depth it would perhaps be eligible to dig at once. The 
locks eighty feet long, eighteen feet wide, and eight or 
nine feet deep, over the gate-sills, containing each 
1 1.500 to 13 .000 cubic feet of water, and with a lift 
of eight to nine feet each, will be constructed of hewn 
stone, laid in tarras. Those dimensions, both of the 
c^aal and locks recommended by Mr. Latrobe, the en¬ 
gineer of the canal, may be adopted in all the other 
canals for sea vessels, on this line of communication. 

The present annual caniage across the peninsula, 
which would be drawn through the canal, is estimated 
at forty-two thousand tons, exclusively of passengers. 
This will be greatly increased by the facility which the 
canal itself will aft'ord to the commercial intercourse 
between the two bays, and to the conveyance of articles 
now carried through other channels, or too heavy for 
transportation, at the expense of carriage The coals 
wanted for Philadelphia, and which brought down from 
the sources of the Smquebannah, and Potomack, but 
principally from the vicinity of Richmond, would na¬ 
turally pass through the canal, have been alone estima¬ 
ted at more than one hundred thousand tons a year. 
The annual carriage of ail articles may, in the present 



15 


state of population be fairly estimated at one hundred 
and fifty thousand tons, and the direct annual saving to 
the community, at 300,000 dollars, being at the rate of 
two dollars a ton, for the difference between land and 
water carriage, across the peninsula, after paying the 
tolls. These, at the rate of fifty cents a ton, will give 
t® the undertakers a revenue of 75,000 dollars ; leav¬ 
ing, after a deduction of 10,000 dollars for annual re¬ 
pairs, and of 10,000 dollars more for attendance and 
contingencies, a nett income cf 55,000 dollars. 

The expenses of the whole work, are estimated as 

followeth : 

Digging 22 miles, at 20,000 dollars a 

mile, g 444,000 00 

18 locks, at 10,000 dollars each, r80,000 00 

(The whole lockage being 148 feet, 
would at 1,250 dollars a foot, amount to 
185.000 dollars.) 

Feeder, (nearly completed,) reservoirs, 
lock at the feeder, purchase of 
water rights, and land, including 
a debt of dollars due by 

the company, 220,000 00 


g 850,000 00 


The interest on which sum, at six per 
cent, is 5 1,000 dollars. 

The capital originally subscribed, amounted to four 
hundred thousand dollars, divided into two thousand 
shares, of two hundred dollars each. One half of these 
have been forfeited, after a small payment of five dollars 
on each share. One hundred thousand dollars paid by 
the other stockholders, have been expended in prepara¬ 
tory measures, in the purchase of water rights, and in 
digging the feeder, which was considered as the most 
difficult part of the work. Seven hundred and fifty 
thousand dollars are still wanted to complete the work ; 
of which sum, one hundred thousand dollars is payable 
by the stockholders, and the deficiency of six hundred 








16 


and fifty thousand dollars, must be drawn from ©th$r 
seurces. 

IV. Chesapeake and Alter marie. 

1. The shortest communication between the Chesa¬ 
peake and Albermarle sound is from North Landing, 
at the head of the tide of North-West River, which 
empties into Currituck Inlet, the easternmost arm of 
Albermarle, to either Kempsville or Great Bridge, at 
fche head of the tide of two different branches of the 
south branch of Elizabeth River, which, passing by 
Norfolk, unites at Hampton Roads, with James River 
and the Chesapeake. The distance is stated at seven 
miles, and the levels said to be favorable. It is belie¬ 
ved that the principal reason why this communication 
has not been attempted, is a bar in Currituck Inlet* 
which does not admit the passage of vessels drawing five 
feet water. 

2. A company incorporated by the states of Virgi¬ 
nia and North-Carolina, for opening a canal through 
the Dismal Swamp, has made considerable progress in 
the work. 

The canal extends 2 2 miles in length from Deep 
Creek,a branch of the south branch of Elizabeth Ri¬ 
ver, 7 miles above Norfolk, to Joyce’s Creek, a branch 
of Pasquotank River, a northern arm of Albermarle 
sound. Vessels drawing 8 to 9 feet water may ascend 
bath creeks to each extremity of the canal. 

The intervening ground along the eastern margin of 
the Dismal Swamp is almost level, the rise towards the 
middle not exceeding two feet above the two ex¬ 
tremities, which are only 18 feet and 9 inches above 
tide water. The digging is very easy ; the only ob¬ 
stacles arise from the stumps and roots of trees, and 
are nearly overcome ; and a single aqueduct, or rather 
- culvert, over a small run emptying into the North-West 

River is necessary. 

The swamp itself supplies, at the depth at which the 
©anal is cut, the water which has heretofore been warW 


« 


17 


ed ; and a sufficient supply may be drawn by a feeder or 
3 miles and a half in lengtfi, cut through a perfect level, 
from Lake Drummond, a natural reservoir in the centra 
of the swamp, of fifteen miles in circumference, and a- 
bout six feet highei than the water in the canal. 

The canal, as cut by the company, is 24 feet wide, 
and 6 feet deep, with one bank on the west side for a 
towing path, 18 feet broad. The whole digging, with 
the exception of 2 miles, which must be deepened 3 
feet, and of 3 quarters of a mile in another place not en¬ 
tirely finished, has been completed. The locks at the 
two extremities of the canal are not built; but two have 
been erected at some distance from each extremity, pio- 
bably in order to save some digging in the intervening 
space : they are made of square juniper logs, and have 
cost only three hundred dollars each. 

The expense of digging has n®t exceeded 4,000 dol¬ 
lars a mile ; the whole capital expended amounts to one 
hundred thousand dollars, of which the state of Virgi¬ 
nia has furnished 17,500 ; and it is stated that the whole 
work may be completed in one year, and will not, inclu¬ 
ding the locks and the payment of some debts contrac¬ 
ted by the company, exceed 25 000 dollars. But the 
canal, which, by the original act ©f incorporation, was to 
be 32 feet wide and 8 feet deep, can, on its present plan, 
be considered only as a local object, the principal utili¬ 
ty of which consists in bringing to market the otherwise 
useless lumber of the swamp. The only boats which 
navigate it are fiats, forty feet long, six feet wide, draw¬ 
ing two feet of Water, and carrying eight thousand shin¬ 
gles. 

It must, in order to become a national object, be ca¬ 
pable of receiving the vessels which navigate Alber- 
marle sound, and for that purpose be restored to its first 
intended dimension^, or r -ther oe widened and'he •pen- 
ed, on the plan adopted for the Chesapeake ana Dela- - 
Ware canal. Thu expense would be as folio we th; 

Digging, deep aiing to 3 feet, preser¬ 
ving the ae level the whole way, 
and w&ienir.g to a proper breadth, 





IS 


22 miles, at 8.000 dollars a mile, 

4 Stone locks at $ 10 000 , 

Feeder to Lake Drummond, aqueduct 


$ 176,00 
40,00 


and contingencies, 


34,C0t 


% 250,000 


3. The last mentioned canal is in the most direct line 
of the communication through Albermarle to Pamtico 
sound, and the adjacent southern sounds. It has been 
objected, that the navigation of Pasquotank River was 
intricate, and that it would be more advantageous to 
open a communication with Chewan River, which pas¬ 
sing by Edenton, and then uniting with the Roanoke, 
forms Albermarle Sound. 

A company was incorporated for that purpose ; but 
the capital was not filled, and no other operation perfor¬ 
med, but surveying the ground. The intended canal on 
that route, would commence at Suffolk, on Nansemond 
ftiver, which empties into James River a few miles a- 
bove and west of the mouth of Elizabeth River, and 
passing along the western margin of the Dismal Swamp, 
would reach, at a computed distance of 30 miles, Gates* 
court-house, on Bennet*s Creek, a branch of Chowan 
River, which vessels drawing ten feet of water may as¬ 
cend to that spot. 

The highest intermediate ground is 28 feet above 
tide water, and consequently higher than the surface of 
lake Drummond. But Bennet*s Creek, and Curripeake 
Swamp, were considered as affording a sufficient supply 
of water. Should this prove adequate, the principal 
objects n to this route will be, that the canal lands at Suf¬ 
folk instead of Norfolk. This consideration and the 
capital already expended on the canal from Elizabeth 
River to Pasquotank, seem to give a preference to this 
course.—To which may be added, that if it be prefera¬ 
ble to strike the waters of Chowan River, a lateral ca¬ 
nal may be hereafter opened, along the southern mar¬ 
gin of the Dismal Swamp, from the southern extremity 
efthe Elizabeth and Pasquotank canal, t? Ben net’s; 






19 


Creek or Edenton. Whatever route may, after a criti¬ 
cal examination of the ground, be thought the most eli¬ 
gible, the opening of this communication will be more 
easy and less expensive, than either of the three nor¬ 
thern canals. 

The following table is a recapitulation of the distance 
to be cut on the whole line, and of the estimated ex¬ 
pense : 


CANALS. 

DIRECTION. 

Distance. 

Miles. 

Lockage. 

Feet. 

1! 

Expense. | ( 

Dollars, j 

I 

Massachusetts, 
New-Jersey, 
Delaware and 
Chesapeake, 
Chesapeake and 
Albenuarle, 

Weymouth to Taunton, 
Brunswick to Taunton, 

Christiana to Elk, 

Elia.Rir. to Pasquotank 

26 

28 

22 

22 

260 
■ 100 

148 

40 

125000# 

800,000 

750,000 

250,000 


Total, 

98 

548 

3050000 


COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN THE ATLANTIC AND 
WESTERN WATERS. 

The Apalachian Mountains, to use an ancient generic 
denomination, extend in a direction west of south from 
the 42d to 34th degree of north latitude, approaching 
the sea, and even washed by the tide in the state of New- 
York, and thence, in their southerly course, gradually- 
receding from the sea shore. Viewed as a whole, their 
breadth may be estimated at 110 miles; they consist of 
a succession of parallel ridges, following nearly the di¬ 
rection ol the sea coast, irregularly intersected by rivers 
and divided by narrow valleys. The ridge which di¬ 
vides the Atlantic rivers from the western waters, gene¬ 
rally known by the name of Alleghany, preserves 
throughout a nearly equal distance of 250 miles from 

























the Atlantic Ocean, and a nearly uniform elevation of 
3,000 feet above the level of the sea. 

Those mountains may however, be perhaps conside¬ 
red as consisting of two principal chains. Between 
these lies the fertile lime-stone valley, which, although 
occasionally interrupted by transversal ridges, and in 
one place by the dividing, or Allegheny ridge, may be 
traced from Newburgh and Esopua on the Hudson Ri¬ 
ver to Knoxville on the Tennessee. 

The eastern and narrowest chain is the Blue Ridge 
of Virginia, which, in its northeast course, traverses, 
under various lumes, the states of Maryland, Pennsylva¬ 
nia, and New Jersey, forms the High Lands broken at 
West-Point by the tide of the Hudson, and then uniting 
with the Green Mountains, assumes a northerly direc¬ 
tion and divides the waters of the Hudson and of Lake 
Champlain from those of Connecticut River. On the 
borders of Virginia and North-Carolina the Blue Ridge 
is united by an inferior mountain with the great western 
chain, and thence to its southern extremity, becomes 
the principal or dividing mountain, discharging east- 
wardiy, tne rivers Roanoke, Pedee, Santee, and Savan¬ 
nah, into the Atlantic Ocean ; southwardly, the Chata- 
houchee and the Alabania into the Gulf of Mexico ; 
and, westvvardly, the New River and the Tennessee.— 
The New River, taking a Northwardly course, breaks 
through all the ridges of the great western chain, and, 
at a short distance beyond it unites, under the name of 
Kanhawa, with the Ohio. The Tennessee pursues at 
first a southwest direction between the two chains until 
having reached, and, in a westwardly course, turned the 
southern extremity of the great western chain, it as¬ 
sumes a northwardly direction and joins its waters with 
those of the Ohio, a few miles above the confluence of 
that river with the Mississippi. 

The western chain, much broader, and generally 
more elevated, is known under the name of Cumber¬ 
land and Gauley Mountains, from its southern extremi¬ 
ty. near the great bend of the Tennessee River, until 
it becomes, in Virginia, the principal or dividing hiqueu 


21 


tain. Thence, in its northerly course, towards the 
State of New-Yerk, it discharges westwardly the 
Green Briar River, which, by its junction with the New 
River, forms the Kanhawa, and the river Monongahela 
and Alleghany, which, from their confluence at Pitts¬ 
burgh assume the name of Ohio. Eastwardly, it 
pours inte the Atlantic Ocean, James River, the Poto- 
mack, and the Susquehannah. From the northermost 
and less elevated spurs of the chain, the Gennessee 
flows into Lake Ontario ; and in that quarter the 
northerly branches of the Susquehannah seem to take 
their source from amongst the interior ridges, and, in 
their course to the Chesapeake, to break through all 
the mountains. From the Susquehannah, the princf- 
pal chain assumes a more eastwardly direction, and, 
washed on the north by the lateral valley of the river 
Mohawk, whilst it gives rise, southwardly, to the Dela¬ 
ware, it terminates, under the name of Catskill Moun¬ 
tain, in view of the tide water of the Hudson. 

This description has been introduced for the double 
purpose of pointing out all the rivers which can afford 
the means of communication, and of showing the im¬ 
practicability in the present state of science of effecting 
a canal navigation across the mountains. 

The most elevated lock canal, of which a correct de¬ 
scription has been given, is that of Languedoc ; and 
the highest ground over which it is cat lied, is only six 
hundred feet above the sea. It is not believed that any 
canal has been undertaken, or at least completed, in 
England, of an elevation exceeding 430 feet above the 
waters united by it. The Alleghany mountain is gene¬ 
rally, and from observations made in several places, 
about 3000 feet above the level of the sea. The pre¬ 
cise height of the dividing ridge was ascertained by 
the commissioners who laid out the United States road 
from Cumberland on the Potomack to Brownsville on 
the Monongahela, at 2,260 feet above the first, and at 
2,150 feet above the last river. Cumberland, from the 
levels taken by the Potomack company, is itself 735 
feet above tide water. Although some more advatv 


22 


tageous and less elevated places may be found, particu¬ 
larly amongst the ridges which divide some of the up¬ 
per branches of the Susquehannah from the corres¬ 
ponding streams emptying into the river Alleghany ; 
there is none which is not of an elevation much beyond 
what has ever been overcome by canals in any other 
country. The impracticability arises from the principle 
of lock navigation, which, in order to effect the ascent, 
requires a greater supply of water in proportion to the 
height to be ascended, whilst the supply of water be¬ 
comes less in the same proportion. Nor does the chain 
of mountains through the whole extent, where it di¬ 
vides the Atlantic from the western rivers, afford a sin¬ 
gle pond, lake, or natural reservoir. It may be added, 
as a general feature of American geography that, ex¬ 
cept in the swamps along the southern sea coast, no 
lake is to be found in the United States south of 41 ° 
north latitude ; and that almost every river north of 
42 ° issues from a lake or pond. 

The works necessary in order to facilitate the com¬ 
munications from the sea-ports across the mountains to 
the western waters, must therefore consist either of ar¬ 
tificial roads extending the whole way from tide water, 
to the nearest and most convenient navigable western 
waters; or of improvements in the navigation of the 
leading Atlantic rivers, to the highest practicable points, 
connected by artificial roads acros the mountains, with 
the nearest points from which a permanent navigation 
can be relied on, down the western rivers. 

The principal considerations in selecting proper di¬ 
rections for those communications are, the distance 
from the navigable western waters both to tide water, 
and to the nearest navigable Atlantic river ; and the ex¬ 
tent of navigation, either natural or susceptible of im¬ 
provement, which may be afforded by the rivers. Dis¬ 
tance alone is mentioned so far as relates to roads, be¬ 
cause the mountains, however insuperable for cxnals, 
offer no important impediment to land communications. 
So far from being an unsur'mountable barrier to com : 
mercial intercourse between the two great sections of 


23 


the Union, it is now ascertained that those mountains 
may, almost in every direction, be crossed by artificial 
roads, as permanent, as easy, and less expensive, than 
similar works in the lower country. For congress Slav¬ 
ing, contrary to current opinion, directed that the road 
from Cumin i <nri to Brownsville should be laid out so 
that its ascent should not in any place exceed an angle 
of five degrees with the horizon, no liiffv ulty has been 
experienced in effecting the object without cutting 
through hills, and although the road thus laid out. be, 
in a distance of 72 miles, two or three miles shorter 
than that heretofoie in use. 

Although the distance from the sea to the principal 
dividing mountain, through its whole length, between 
the western sources of the Susquehann ill and those of 
the Savannah, be nearly the same, yet tire Atlantic bays, 
penetrating the coast at different depths and in different 
directions, the distances from the sea ports to the near¬ 
est western navigable waters, varies considerably. 
Taken in straight lines from each port to the nearest 
branch, beyond all the mountains, of each of the four 
great western rivers, tiiey may be stated as follows : 

MILES. 

From Philadelphia to the confluence of the 

Conemaugh and Loyalhannon, branches of the 


Aileghany, • . • 220 

From the city of Washington to the confluence 

of the rivers M onongahela and Cheat, 150 

From Richmond to Morris’, on the Kunhawa, 

below all the falls of that river, . . 210 

From Savannah or Charleston to any navigable 

branch of Tennessee, the distance exceeds 300 * 


The distance from the same western points to the 
upper navigation of the corresponding Atlantic rivers 
cannot be stated with precision, as tnc upper points to 
which the navigation of those rivers may be improved 
is not yet ascertained. The shortest portage between 
the waters of the Potomack and those of the Mononga- 
hela, in their natural state, from West Port, on the Po¬ 
tomack, to Cheat River, oelow the falls, is about fifty 


24 


miles in a straight line. But in order to secure a tole¬ 
rable navigation, particularly on the Potomack, the 
loute from Cumberland to Brownsville, (Red Stone old 
fort.) has been preferred, and the distance, by the road 
lately laid out, is 72 miles. Tne portage between the 
north fork of the Juniata, a branch of the Susquehan- 
nah, and the con esponding waters of the river Allegha¬ 
ny, is somewhat shorter. That hetween Pattonbo- 
rotigh, on James River, and the falls of the Kanhawa, 
exceeds one hundred miles. 

The most prominent, though not, perhaps, the most 
insuperable obstacie in the n ivigation of the Atlantic 
rivers, consists in their lower falls, which are ascribed 
to a presumed continuous granite ridge, rising about 
130 feet above tide water. That ridge, from New- 
York to James River inclusively, arrests the ascent of 
the tide, the fails of every )jvei within that space being 
precisely at the head oi the ude. Pursuing tb' ce 
sou hwardly a direction nearly p cliel to the mountains, 
it recedes from the sea, leaving in each southern river 
an extent of good navigation hetween the tide and the 
falls. Other falls of less magnitude are found at the 
■gaps of the Blue Ridge, through which the rivers have 
forced their passage. Higher up, the rapidity of the 
northern rivers, which penetrate through tne inferior 
ridges of the great western chain, increases as they ap¬ 
proach the dividing, or Alleghany mountain ; and their 
sources being nearly at the same elevation, their rapidi¬ 
ty increases in proportion to the shortness of their 
course. For that reason the navigation of the Snsque- 
hannah above the Blue Ridge is better than that of the 
Potomack, which affords, as has been stated, the shortest 
communication from tide water to the nearest western 
river. The levels of the last-mentioned river having 
been taken by the Potomack company, the general re¬ 
sult is annexed, as giving a more correct idea of the 
navigation of the Atlantic rivers, than could be convey¬ 
ed iu any other manner. 


25 



DISTANCE. 

FALL 

RATE O T 




TALL. 


Miles. 

Feet. 

Feet per 



■A 

mile. 

From the mouth of Savage River, 




down to Cumberland, 

31 

445 

14 1-2 

Thence to the Blue Ridge, 

130 1-2 

490 

4 

Harper’s Ferry, or Shenandoah 




Falls,. 

5 1-2 

43 


Thence to Great Falls, . . 

40 

39 

1 

Great and Little Falls, to tide wa- 




ter,.. 

12 

143 


Total, 

219 ; 

1,160 



The papers marked (C.) contain the information 
which has been collected respecting the works exe¬ 
cuted or contemplated on the great rivers already enu¬ 
merated. It has not been understood that any im¬ 
provements of importance have been yet attempted on 
the Savannah and Pedee, nor on any of the tributary 
streams of the Ohio ; and the communications receiv¬ 
ed under this head relate only to the Santee, Roanoke, 
James River, Potomack, Susquehannah, and Ohio. 

I. Santee. 

The Santee, or Catawba, is said to be occasionally 
navigable for near 300 miles, as high up as Morgan¬ 
town, in North-Carolina. Two companies have been 
incorporated by that State, and that of South-Carolina, 
for the purpose of improving its navigation. The low¬ 
er falls are above Camden, and not far from the arsenal 
of the United States at Mount Rock. A canal had been 
commenced there, but either from want of success in 
the commencement, or from want of funds, the work 
appears to be suspended. The market for the produce 
brought down that river is Charleston ; and the river 

cc 





















26 


Louts were obliged at the mouth of the river to enter 
the sea, and to reach that port by a navigation along the 
sea shore, for which they were not calculated. To 
remedy that inconvenience, and to insure a permanent 
navigation, a canal has been opened by another compa¬ 
ny, uniting the Santee with Cooper River, which emp¬ 
ties into the harbour of Charleston. 

The distance between the points united is 22 miles: 
the highest intervening ground was 52 feet above San¬ 
tee, and 85 feet above the river Cooper ; but it has been 
reduced 17 feet by digging ; the descent to Santee be¬ 
ing 35 feet, effected by four locks, and that to Cooper 
68 feet, effected by nine locks. 

The principal supply of water is afforded by springs 
arising from the marshy ground at the bottom of the 
canal, and by seveial drains which collect and bring 
h om an adjacent swamp the sources of the river Coop¬ 
er. The quantity is said to be seldom deficient; yet a 
f team engine has been contemplated, as perhaps neces- 
vary in older to raise from the Santee an adequate sup- 

V ] 7;_ 

The canal was carried over some small streams by 
means of aqueducts ; inconsiderable ravines have been 
iided, and the ground was dug in some places to the 
depth of sixteen feet, in order to preserve the level, 
but it appears that the roots of trees were the greatest 
obstacle encountered in digging the canal. Its breadth 
is 20 feet at the bottom and 35 feet at top; the depth 
of water is 4 feet, and it admits boats of 20 tons. The 
locks, made of brick faced with marble, are 60 feet long 
and 10 ieet wide. 

The capital expended is stated at 650,667 dollars, 
including sixty negroes and some tracts ot land belong¬ 
ing to the company. The canal has been completed 
six years ; the annual tolls had never exceeded 
l 3 000 dollars before the year 1807, and the annual ex¬ 
penses are stated at 7,000 dollars. The want of suc¬ 
cess in this undertaking which, though completed, is 
very unprofitable, may be ascribed to several causes. 
The expense, compared v/ith the work, is much great- 


27 


er than might have been expected, and probably than 
was necessary. The locks are too small for large boats, 
wtiich are therefore obliged to pursue the former route 
down the Santee, and by sea to Charleston ; and want 
of water is alleged as a sufficient reason for the size of 
the locks. But. a canal in that situation cannot, in 
America, be profitable, unless the navigation of the 
main river with which it communicates is rendered 
safe and permanent; and whenever that of the Santee 
itself shall have been improved, the utility and profits 
of the canal will be considerably increased. 

II. The lower or great falls of Roanoke, consist in a 
succession of rapids, which, in a distance of 15 miles, 
have a fall of 93 feet. This obstruction is such, that 
almost all the tobacco of that river is transported by 
land to Petersburgh, on the Appomatox branch ol" 
James River. A canal has been contemplated from the 
upper end of the falls to Murfreesborough, situated on 
the tide water of a branch of Chowan River, 25 miles 
above , the mouth of Bennet’s Creek, which has been 
before mentioned as one of the lines of communication 
between Albermarle Sound and the Chesapeake. The 
level is said to be favourable without any obstructions or 
valleys in the way. The distance is 38 miles, and the 
expense of a small canal for boats drawing two feel and 
a half of water, may be estimated as folioweth : 

Digging 38 miles, at § 6000 a mile, $ 228,000 
Lockage, 93 feet, at S 800 a foot, 74,400 

Feeder, land, &c. 47,600 


350 000 


The capital for this canal has never* been subscribed, 
and it has been suggested that it would be practicable 
to open one to Petersburgh. Ius not believed that any 
hills intervene in that course ; and the greatest obstacle 
will be found in crossing the branches of Chowan 
River. 


4 


■ s* 





28 


ILL James River. 

A company, incorporated by the State of Virginia, 
for the improvement of the navigation of the river ge¬ 
nerally, has removed some obstructions in the upper 
part of the river, and is bound by the charter to render 
it so far navigable that there may never be less than 12 
inches of water over any of the shoals or rapids, from 
the upper end of the Lower or Great Falls to Patton- 
borough, a distance of 220 miles. The natural naviga¬ 
tion of the river through that extent, is considered as 
better than that of any other Atlantic river above the 
falls. \ 

A communication has been opened by the company, 
from Westham, at the upper end of the Great Falls, to 
Shockoe Hill, in the city of Richmond, in the follow¬ 
ing manner. The water is drawn at Westham from 
the river into a canal 200 yards in length, at the end of 
which boats, descending 34 feet through three locks, 
re-enter the river ; and after using its natural naviga¬ 
tion three miles, are brought by a canal three miles and 
’ a half in length to a basin on Shockoe Hill, where the 
navigation terminates. 

That basin is about 80 feet above tide water, and one 
mile and a half from Rockets, the port of Richmond. 
The whole fall from the upper end of the canal at 
Westham to the basin, may be stated at 48 feet, and the 
distance at six miles and a half. The canal is 25 feet 
wide, and admits boats of eight tons, drawing three feet 
of water. The locks, 80 feet long and 16 feet wide, 
are of solid masonry, but the cement is defective. 
Three aqueducts have been thrown across valleys inter* 
veiling in the course of the canal ; and some difficult 
digging was necessary on the side of hills and through 
ledges of rocks. 

The canal, according to the charter, was intended to 
have been brought down to tide water. The perform¬ 
ance ot that condition is now suspended by an act of 
the legislature of Virginia, and there seems to be a 
sonssiaerable diversity of opinion on that subject* In a 


29 


national point of view, the plan which will at the least 
expense put coals on board vessels lying at Rockets, 
deserves the preference. For coal is in no other part 
of the United States found in abundance in the vicinity 
of tide water. At present the expense of transporta¬ 
tion by the canal is already reduced to one third of the 
land carriage. 

The original capital of the company amounted to 
140,000 dollars, of which the Slate of Virginia owns 
fifty thousand ; and ninety-one thousand dollars arising 
from the proceeds of tolls had, before the first of Janu¬ 
ary, 1805, been applied to the work, making, together, 
an expenditure of 231,000 dollars. The annual tolls, 
raised on fourteen thousand tons of country produce, 
and on two thousand coal boats, have amounted to 15,750 
dollars ; and the annual repairs and expenses are esti¬ 
mated at 5,000 dollars. But as the company draw also 
a revenue from the rent of water, applied to mills and 
other water works erected along the canal, they have 
been able in some years to make dividends of 16,800 
dollars, being at the rate of twelve per cent, on the ori¬ 
ginal capital ; but of only about seven per cent, if cal¬ 
culated on the the sum of 244.030 dollars, the amount 
of capital expended, and interest accrued before any 
dividend was made. 

IV. Potomack . 

The company incorpovtcd by the States of Maryland 
and Virginia, for improving the navigation of that river, 
has executed the following works : 

1. At a distance of twelve miles above the head of s*, 
the tide, which ascends about three miles above the ci¬ 
ty of Washington, the river is 143 feet higher than tide 
water At that place, designated by the name of Great 
Falls, the boats, passing through a canal one mile in 
length, six feet deep and twenty five feet wide, descend 
seveptv-six feet by five locks one hundred feet long and 
twelve feet wide, each, and, re-entering the river, follow 

cc2 


50 


its natural bed eight miles and a half. Another canal of 
the same dimensions, and two miles and a hall in length, 
brings them then through three locks, and, by a descent 
of thirty-seven feet, to tide water. This last is distin¬ 
guished by the name of Little Falls. The two lower 
locks of the Great Falls, excavated out of the solid rock, 
have each a lift of eighteen feet ; the three upper lock* 
of solid masonry are of unequal height, and have, toge¬ 
ther, a lift of forty feet. The three locks of the Little 
Falls are each one hundred feet in length and eighteen 
feet wide. That breadth is unnecessary and consume* 
too much water, a defect which will be remedied when 
stone locks will be substituted to those now in use, which 
being of wood, will soon be decayed. 

Three other canals, without locks, have been opened 
around three distinct falls ; the principal, at the She¬ 
nandoah Falls, below Harper’s Ferry, and at the place 
where the Potomack breaks through the Blue Ridge is 
one mile in length around a fall of fifteen feet. Be¬ 
tween this and the Great Falls, another canal, three 
fourths of a mile in length, is opened around the Sene¬ 
ca Falls. The third, fifty yards in length, has been cut 
around Houre’s Falls, five miles above the Shenandoah 
Falls. Above this place the navigation has been impro¬ 
ved by deepening occasionally the channel, raising'the 
water in shallow places by small dams, and opening 
sluices along the shore. It is believed that by multi¬ 
plying the number of those low dams, by throwing the 
channel along the shore, and, when necessary, opening 
canals with or without locks around the principal rapids, 
the navigation may be improved, perhaps, as high up 
as Cumberland, 188 miles above tide water, to such a 
degree as to render the river passable for boats, the 
greater part of the year. And if this be found practi¬ 
cable on the Potomack, which js the most rapid of the 
great Atlantic rivers, the same improvements may, with 
• reater facility, he effected on any of the others. It will 
be indispensable, in order to attain that object on the 
Potomack, that additional canals, with locks, should he 
tpenedat the Shenandoah, or Blue Ridge Falls, which* 


31 


a® has already been stated, fall 43 feet in the distance of 
five miles. 

2. The Shenandoah, a'river nearly as large as the Po- 
tomack itself, after a coarse of 250 miles through the 
great Limestone Valley, unites its waters with those of 
the Potomack, at Harper’s Ferry, just above the Blue 
Ridge. From Port Republic, till within eight miles of 
the Potomack, a distance of near 200 miles, it affords a 
good navigation, the fall of the river being at the rate of 
less that) two feet a mile. In the last eight miles, it 
falls eighty feet, and was impassable before the improve¬ 
ments completed last year by the Potomack Company. 
Six different canals 20 feet wide, four feet and a half 
deep, and extending altogether, 2.400 yards, have been 
opened around the most difficult falls. Through those, 
and five stone locks, 100 feet long, and twelve feet wide 
each, and effecting together, a descent of near fifty feet, 
the communication is now opened, and will render the 
undertaking much more productive than heretofore — 
The water in all those canals and locks, as well as in 
those executed on the Potomack, is uniformly supplied 
by the river itself. 

The capital originally subscribed, amounted to 3 11, 
560 dollars, divided into 701 shares ; of which the state 
of Maryland owns 220, and the state of Virginia, 70,— 
The total amount expended, including an additional 
payment received from late subscribers, 38,000 dollars, 
arising from tolls, which have been applied to the work, 
and a debt of about 67,000 dollars contracted by the 
company, amounts to 444,65 2 dollars. The annual 
tolls raised on eight thousand tons of sundry articles, 
valued at more than half a million of dollars, have not, 
before the opening of the Shenandoah, exceeded 15,000 
dollars; and the annual expenses and repairs are stated 
at 5,000 dollars. 

One hundred shares of one hundred and forty-five 
pounds sterling each, remain open for subscription. 


32 


V. Susquehannah . 

This river has no perpendicular, or altogether impas¬ 
sable falls ; but from the head of the tide, up to the 
Penns) Ivania line, a distance of ten miles, the navigation 
is impeded by a succession of dangerous rapids ; and 
these, though occasionally separatedby sheetsof smooth 
water, continue 40 miles higher up, at least as far as 
Columbia ; the whole fall from this place to the head 
of the tide being, estimated at about 140 feet. The na¬ 
vigate n through that distance, at all times dangerous, is 
practicable on'y during the high freshets, when rafts 
ar>< fl t bottomed boats. 80 feet long, and 17 feet wide, 
may descend, from the several widely extended upper 
blanches of the river. Leas dangerous falls are found 
at the plate where it breaks through the Blue Ridge ; 
above which, the natural navigation from Middletown 
upwards, whether up the Juniata, the West-Branch, or 
the East-Branch, is much better than that of the Poto- 
rmck, anti has been improved in several places at the 
expense of the State of Pennsylvania. A canal one mile 
long, and tour feet deep, with two brick locks, has also 
been opened around the Conewago Falls, in the gap of 
the Blue Ridge ; fourteen thousand dollars having been 
p iid for that object, by the same state. Its entrance is 
difficult, and it is used for water works, being free for 
navigation, though private properly. From Columbia, 
down to the Maryland line, considerable improvements 
in the bed of the river have also been made, at the ex¬ 
pense of the two States, and the descending navigation 
has, on the whole, been improved ; but few boats ever 
attempt to ascend. Nor is it believed that the natural 
advantages of the most corisideraole Atlantic river, will 
ever be fully enjoyed until a canal shall have been open¬ 
ed the whole way from Columbia, either to lido-water, 
or to the Delaware and Chesapeake canal. 

A company, incorporated by the state of Maryland, 
for opening a canal around the fails, in that part of the 
river which extends from the Pennsylvania line to tide 


33 


water, has completed that part of the work, the utility 
of which ,is but very partially felt, whilst the bed of the 
river remains the only communication from its upper 
extremity up to Columbia. 

The canal, 30 feet wide, three feet deep, and admit¬ 
ting boats of 20 tons, is nine miles in length, with a fall 
of 59 feet. The descent is effected by eight stone 
locks, each of which is 100 feet in length, and twelve 
feet wide. The water is supplied by the river itself ; 
and in order to cross the rivers, Conawingo, and Octo- 
rara, these, by means of dams, have been raised ten and 
twelve feet to the level of the canal. 

Its defects consist in the want of sufficient breadth of 
the locks, which do not admit the rafts, and wide flat 
bottomed boats, generally used in bringing down the 
country produce, and in want of water at the lower end 
of the canal. This last de feet may be remedied, by ex¬ 
tending the canal 700 yards lower down, along the edge 
of the river ; and it is probable, that as timber will be¬ 
come more scarce and valuable in the upper branches 
of the Susquehannah, boats of a different construction 
will be used. In the mean while the annual tolls have 
not yet amounted to one thousand, whilst the annual ex¬ 
penses are stated at twelve hundred dollars, and the ca¬ 
pital expended at 250,000 dollars. 

The attempts made to open a communication from 
Middletown, in the Limestone Valley, to Philadelphia, 
partly by canals, and partly by means of the Schuylkill, 
will be noticed under the head of “ Interior Canals.” 

VI. Ohio. 


The navigation of the Kanhawa, and of the eastern 
branches of the Tennessee, iVIonongahela, and Allegha¬ 
ny, in their course through the mountains, may at a fu¬ 
ture period be improved. Cut from the foot of the 
mountains, all those rivers, and particularly the Ohi , 
flow with a much gentler current than the Atlantic ri¬ 
vers : a circumstance easily accounted for, when it is 


34 


fecollected that Brownsville, on the Monongahela, and 
at a distance of two thousand miles, by water, from the 
sea, is only 115 feet more elevated than Cumberland, on 
the Potomack ; whilst this river, with all its meanders, 
reaches tide water within less than two hundred miles. 
All those rivers, at the annual melting of the snows, 
rise to the height of more than forty feet, affording;, from 
the upper points to which they are navigable, a fafe na¬ 
vigation to the sea for any ship that can pass over the 
bar at the mouth of the Mississippi. As early as the 
year 1793, a schooner built on the Monongahela, be¬ 
tween Brownsville and Pittsburgh, reached New-Or- 
leans by that extraordinary inland navigation, and arri¬ 
ved safe at Philadelphia. This first essay stimulated 
the spirit of enterprise, so conspicuous in the American 
character ; and numerous vessels, from one hundred to 
three hundred and fifty tons burthen, are now annually 
built at several ship yards on the Ohio, even as high up 
as Pittsburgh, and bringing down to Nevv-Orleans the 
produce of the upper country consumed there, carry to 
Europe, and to the Atlantic ports of the United States, 
the cotton, the sugar, and the tobacco of Lousiana, and 
of the states of Tennessee and Kentucky. 

That branch of national industry gives value to the 
immense forests of the Ohio and of its numerous bran¬ 
ches, will soon make a considerable, and, pet haps, ne¬ 
cessary accession to the shipping of the United States, 
ano has a tendency to diminish the price of freights 
from New-Oi leans to the other American, and to foreign 
ports. The importance of this last consideration will 
be duly felt, if the magnitude of the exports, of which 
New-Orleans is destined to be the emporium, be con¬ 
trasted with the probable amount of its importations.— 
For such are the labour, time, and expense necessary to 
ascend the rapid stream of the Mississippi, and the na¬ 
ture of its banks, annually overflowed on a breadth of 
several miles, precludes the possibility of towing paths ; 
that whilst the greater part of the produce of the im- 
mense country watered by that river and its tributary 
streams, must necessarily he exported through its chan- 


35 


nel, the importations of a considerable portion of that 
country will continue to be supplied from the Atlantic 
sea-ports, by water and land communications, suscepti¬ 
ble of cons : derab!e improvement. And thus, unless a- 
nother outlet be found for a portion of the exports, or 
unless the upper country can supply vessels, those ex¬ 
ports must necessarily pay a double freight. 

The only impediments to that navigation are on the 
Tennessee, “ the Muscle Shoals,” of which no particu¬ 
lar account has been received, and, on the Ohio, the 
falls of Louisville Ordinary boats can with difficulty 
pass these in summer, and the navigation is, even during 
the freshets, dangerous for the large vessels. The at¬ 
tention of the legislature of Kentucky, and of the inha¬ 
bitants of the western country generally, has therefore 
been particularly drawn to the opening of a canal at that 
place. A company has been lately incorporated by the 
State of Kentucky for that purpose, with a capital which 
may amount to 500 000 dollars, but a small portion of 
which has yet been subscribed. The expense, how¬ 
ever, is estimated at a sum less than the nominal capi¬ 
tal. 

The proposed canal would be near two miles in length, 
and must be dug, in some places, to a depth of 27, but 
generally of about 16 feet; the breadth at the bottom 
being 20 feet, with the necessary slope, would make it 
generally 63 feet wide at top, and in particular places 
not less than one hundred. The fall, at low water, is 
about 22 feet, and would require three locks, of dimen¬ 
sions sufficient to pass ships of 400 tons, and drawing 14 
feet of water. The greatest expense will be that of 
digging and removing the earth, which may be estima¬ 
ted at 400,000 cubic yards, and according to the repre¬ 
sentation made of the nature of the ground, will not pro¬ 
bably cost more than 200,000 dollars. To this may be 
added 100 000 dollars for the locks and other necessary 
works, making altogether three hundred thousand dol¬ 
lars. The greatest difficulty seems to be the protec¬ 
tion of the locks and canals against the rise of the river, 
which sometimes overflows the whole ground through 


36 


The expense of the improvements suggested in the 
communications between the Atlantic and western wa¬ 
ters, may be stated as followeth : 

1st. Four artificial roads from the four great western 
rivers, the Alleghany, Monongahela, Kanhawa, and 
Tennessee, to the nearest corresponding Atlantic ri¬ 
vers, the Susqnehannah or Juniata, the Putomack, James 
River, and either the Santee, or Savannah, leaving to 
the several states the continuation of those roads east- 
wardly to the nearest sea-ports. Those roads should 
unite on each river, points from which a permanent and 
safe navigation downwards, could except during the 
driest seasons, be relied on, and will therefore on each 
route, be estimated at one hundred miles, making alto¬ 
gether 400 miles, which at 7000 dollars a mile, the ma¬ 
terials being generally on the spot, would cost 

S 2,800,000 

2d. The improvement of the navigation of 
the four Atlantic rivers from tide water 
to the highest practicable point, effected 
principally by canals around the falls, 
wherever practicable, and by locks when¬ 
ever necessary—The most expensive of 
these would be the proposed canal from 
Columbia on the Susquehannah, either to 
tide water, or to the Delaware and Che¬ 
sapeake canal. And considering how 
much has been effected already, and may 
still be done on the other rivers, bv the 
several incorporated companies, it is be¬ 
lieved that every useful improvement 
might be completed by a public expendi¬ 
ture not exceeding 1,500,000 

3d. The canal at the falls of Ohio, estima¬ 
ted at 300,000 

Making altogether, $ 4,600,000 

Although a canal navigation uniting the Atlantic and 
western waters, in a direct course across the mountains, 







37 


appears impracticable, yet those mountains may be 
turned either on the north, by means *>f the Mohawk 
vailey and of Lake Ontario, or on the south, through 
Georgia and the Mississippi Territory. The first ce.n- 
Tnunication will be noticed under the head of 44 the ri¬ 
ver St. Lawrence and greatLakes ” Of the second, it 
will be sufficient to observe, that the country lying be¬ 
tween the sources of the rivers Cha'tahouchee and Mo¬ 
bile, and the gulf of Mexico, is an inclined plane, regu¬ 
larly descending towards the ecu, and that by following 
the proper levels, it presents no natural obstacle to the 
opening of a canal, fed by the w'aters of the two last- 
mentioned rivers, and extending from the tide water on 
the coast of Georgia, to the Missis.-ippi. ; he distance 
in a direct line is about 550 miles, and to be overcome, 
requires only time, perseverance, and labour. When 
it is recollected that such an undertaking would dis¬ 
charge the Mississippi into the Atlantic, the remarks 
already made on the trade of that river, and other ob¬ 
vious considerations, will sufficiently point out its im¬ 
mense importance. Nor should the plan, on account 
of its magnitude, be thought chimerical, for the eleva¬ 
tion and other natural obstacles of intervening ground, 
or want of a sufficient supply of water, and not distance, 
are the only insuperable impediments to an artificial 
navigation. 

This work, which is presented net as an immediate, 
but as a distant object, Worthy of consideration, would 
probably require ten millions of dollars and thirty years 
for its Completion. The annual sales of the public lands 
in the Mississippi Territory, which are estimated at 
fifty millions of acres, would, after paying the debt due 


to the State of Georgia, afford sufficient funds; and the 
increased value of the residue, would alone more than 
compensate the expense. 

It is proper to add, that an inland navigation, even for 
cptn boats, already exists from New-Urieans by the 
canal Carondelet, to the lake Pontchai train, thence be¬ 
tween the coast and the adjacent islands to the bay of 
Mobile, and up its two principal livers, the Alabama and 


»d 


( 


58 


the Tombigbee, to the head of the tide, within the ac¬ 
knowledged boundaries of the United States. The 
current of these two rivers being much less rapid than 
that of the Mississippi, they have long been contem¬ 
plated, particularly the Tombigbee, as affording a bet¬ 
ter communication to the ascending or returning trade 
from New-Orleans to the waters of the Tennessee, 
from which they are separated by short portages. 

COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN THE ATLANTIC RIVERS & 
THE RIVER ST. LAWRENCE AND GREAT LAKES. 

Vessels ascend the river St. Lawrence from the sea 
to Montreal. The river Sorel discharges, at some dis¬ 
tance below that town, the waters of Lake George and 
Lake Champlain, which penetrate southwardly within 
the United States. From Montreal to Lake Ontario, 
the ascent of the liver St. Lawrence is estimated at 
bout 200 feet. From the eastern extremity of Lake 
Ontario, an inland navigation for vessels of more than 
100 tens burthen is continued more than one thousand 
miles, through Lakes Erie, St. Clair, and Huron, to the 
western and southern extremities of Lake Michigan, 
without any other interruption than that of the falls and 
r pkU of Niagara, between Lake Erie and Lake Onta¬ 
rio. The descent from Fort Schlosser to Devil’s Hole, 
a distance of four miles, which includes the perpen¬ 
dicular falls of Niagara, lias, by correct measurement, 
been ascertained at 375 feet. The whole fall from 
Lake Erie to Lake Ontario is estimated at 450 feet, 
making the elevation of Lake Erie above tide water 
six hundred end fifty feet. 

Lake Superior, the largest of those inland seas, com¬ 
municates with the northern extremity of Lake Hu¬ 
ron, by the river and rapids of St- Mary’s. The fall 
of these is not ascertained : but it is said that a small 
canal has been opened around the most difficult part by 
the north-west fur company. 

Five of the Atlantic rivers approach the waters of 
the St. Lawrence, viz. the Penobscot, Kennebcck, 


39 


Connecticut, the North, or Hudson River, and the Ti¬ 
oga branch of the Susauehannah. This last rival* will 
afford a useful communication with the river Seneca 
and Gennessee, which empty into Lake Ontario. The 
length of the portage has not been precisely stated ; 
and the general navigation of the Susquehannah has 
already been noticed. It may, however, be observed, 
that it is the only Atlantic river whose sources approach 
both the western waters, and those of the St. Law¬ 
rence. ^ 

The three eastern rivers afford convenient commu¬ 
nications with the province of Lower Canada, but not 
with that extensive inland navigation which penetrates 
through the United States, within two hundred miles of 
the Mississippi. No statement has been received of 
any improvement having yet been made on the Penob¬ 
scot or Kennebeck ; and a very imperfect account has 
been obtained of some short canals opened around the 
several falls of the river Connecticut. One at Bellows 
Falls, in the State of Vermont, has been particularly 
mentioned, and is the highest improvement on the 
river. 

What is called the North River, is a narrow and long 
bay; which, in its northwardly course from the harbour 
of New-York, breaks through, or turns all the moun¬ 
tains, affording a tide navigation for vessels of 80 tons 
to Albany and Troy, 160 miles above New-York. 
This peculiarity distinguishes the North River from all 
the other bays and rivers of the United States. The 
tide in no other ascends higher than the granite ridge, 
or comes within thirty miles of the Blue Ridge, or eas¬ 
tern chain of mountains. In the North River it bl eaks 
through the Blue Ridge at West Point, and ascends 
above the eastern termination of the Catskill, or groat 
western chain. 

A few miles above Troy, and the head of the tide, the 
Hudson from the north, and the Mohawk from the west, 
unite their waters, and form the No:th River. The 
Hudson, in its course upwards, approaches the waters 
of Lake Champlain, and the Mohawk those of Lake 
Ontario. 


40 


I. Hudson and Champlain , or Northern Navi¬ 
gation, 

A company was incorporated several years ago by 
the State of New-York, for the purpose of opening this 
communication, and a survey taken by Mr. Weston, a 
copy cf which has not yet been obtained. From colla¬ 
teral information, it appears that it was proposed to 
open a canal 12 miles long, with a lockage of 106 feet, 
from Waterford, at the confluence of the Hudson and 
Mohawk, to the upper end of the great falls of Stillwa¬ 
ter. This was considered as the most difficult part of 
the whole route, and the expense estimated at 275,000 
dollars. Another canal and lock would be necessary 
around the falls of Fort Miller: but the remainder of 
the navigation up the Hudson to Fort Edward, does not 
require any material improvement. 

At some distance above Fort Edward, it was intended 
to connect, by a canal and locks, the Hudson with the 
North Wood Creek, at Fort Ann. The navigation 
down the creek to Skeensborough is used, but requires 
to be improved. At this place, where falls render an¬ 
other canal necessary, North Wood Creek empties into 
the south bay of Lake Champlain ; and thence is a na¬ 
tural sloop navigation through the whole extent of the 
lake. The expense of the works, "from Fort Edward 
to Skeensborough, had been estimated at 200,000 dol¬ 
lars. 

The funds of the company were insufficient, and 
have', it is said, been expended, without much perma¬ 
nent utility, at Stillwater and Skeensborough. 

The distance in a straight line from Waterford to 
Skeensborough is fifty miles, and the expense of open¬ 
ing a permanent boat navigation, on a proper plan, 
through the whole line, is, from imperfect materials, 
estimated at about 800,000 dollars. This communica¬ 
tion would divert to a port of the United States the trade 
of one half of the State of Vermont, and of a part of 
that of New-York, which is now principally carried 
through the channel of the St. Lawrence, and of the 
province cf Canada. 


41 


II. Mohawk and Ontario , or Western Navi¬ 
gation. 

A company, incorporated by the State of New-York, 
for the improvement of this navigation, has made con¬ 
siderable progress, and an accurate survey having been 
taken of the distances and levels of the greater part of 
the route, the result will, in the first place, be stated. 


DISTANCE. FALLS. 


From the tide water at Troy to 
Lansing Mills on the Mohawk, is 
found the greatest impediment to 
the navigation of that river, con¬ 
sisting of the Cohoes Falls, which 
are 70 feet, perpendicular, and of a 
succession of other falls, which 
continue to the North River, 
From Lansing Mills up the Mo¬ 
hawk to Schenectady, the height 
of the river, at the time when the 
survey was taken, prevented Mr. 
Weston from correctly ascertain¬ 
ing the levels. The fall for that 
distance is therefore estimated, 
From Schenectady to the Little 
Falls, - - - 

The Little Falls which, before 
the improvements made by the 
company, interrupted altogether 
the navigation, - 

From the Little Falls to Fort 
Stanvvix, now Rome, 

This is the head of the naviga¬ 
tion, and the summit* level be¬ 
tween it and West Wood Creek, 
a branch of Lake Ontario, is nine 
foet and three fourths above that 

Dd 2 


Miles. Feet. 


4 2-3 14© 


12 1-3 23 1-i 

57 1-2 110 1-2 


3-4 42 

48 59 1-2 


42 


DISTANCE. FALLS. 

Miles. Feet. 

part of the river Mohawk where 

the navigation ceases, - - 1 3-4 9 3-4 

125 390 


The whole course of the Mo¬ 
hawk is therefore 125 miles ip 
length, and the fall through that 
distance from the summit level to 
tide water is 390 feet. 

At the distance of one mile and 
three quarters is Wood Creek, 
the bed of which is used to its en¬ 
trance into Lake Oneida, the dis¬ 
tance along its meanders being 
twenty-three miles, but in the line 
in which a canal might be cut on¬ 
ly fourteen miles, and the fall six- 
*.y feet, - - - - 14 6v 

The Oneida forms a natural ca¬ 
nal of twenty miles in length, and 20 
communicates, by the Onondaga 
and Oswego rivers, with Lake On¬ 
tario. The distance by water 
down those two rivers to Oswego, # 
on Lake Ontario, is 63 miles.— 

The upper part of the navigation 
is generally good, but the last 12 
miles from the Oswego Falls, 
which are not passable to Lake 
Ontario, are a continued rapid.— 

The fall from lake Oneida to lake 
Ontario has not been ascertained 
by actual measurement, but is es¬ 
timated at 130 feet. From Rot¬ 
terdam, on Lake Oneida, to the 
mouth of Salmon Creek, on Lake 
Ontario, a few miles east of Os- 





43 


DISTANCE. FALLS. 

Mile*. Feet. 

wego, the distance is twenty-two 
miles, and the ground being fa¬ 
vorable, it is expected that the line 
of canal would not exceed twenty 
six miles, 26 130 


60 190 


The elevation of the summit level between the Mo 
hawk and the waters of Lake Ontario, being only three 
hundred and ninety feet above the tide water at Troy, 
and 190 feet above Lake Ontario, a canal navigation is 
practicable the whole distance. Whether this should 
be attempted for a sloop or boat navigation must depend 
principally, if not altogether, on the supply of water*— 
It is stated that the canal from the summit level to 
Troy must necessarily follow the valley of the Mohawk, 
and perhaps occasionally enter and cross the liver.— 
Calculated for a boat navigation, the expense may be 
estimated as follovveth : 

Mr, Weston estimated the expense of a ca¬ 
nal from Lansing mills to tide water at 
Troy, around the Cohoes Falls, at S 2-50,00# 

The distance from the summit level to Lan¬ 
sing Mills, is 120 miles, and to Lake On¬ 
tario, deducting the 20 miles occupied by 
Lake Oneida, 40 miles; together 160 
miies of canal, the' digging of which at 
8,000 dollars a mile, is 1,280,000 

The fall from the summit level to Lansing 
Mills is 2-50 feet, and to Lake Ontario 
190 feet; together 440 feet lockage, 
which will require 55 locks of eight feet 
lift each. These at 7,500 dollars, the 
cost of the stone locks erected by the 
company at the Little Falls, will cost a- 
bout 


420,000 







44r 

Feeder and aqueducts may be estimated at 250,00® 


Making altogether . . . . S 2,200,000 

It is not believed that a sloop navigation, if practica¬ 
ble, could be effected for a less sum than five millions 
of dollars. 

The following works have already been completed by 
the company : 

At the Little Falls a canal three quarters of a mile in 
length, has been opened, and a descent of 42 feet effect¬ 
ed by six locks of solid masonry, each of which is 70 feet 
long, and 12 feet wide. 

At the German Flats, four miles above the Little 
Falls, another canal one mile in length, with two stone 
locks of the same materials and dimensions, effects a 
descent often feet. 

On the summit level a canal one mile and three 
quarters in length, and supplied with water trom the 
River Mohawk by a short feeder, unites that river and 
Wood Creek, by means of two locks of the same dimen¬ 
sions and materials, one at each extremity of the canal. 
All those canals are two feet and a half deep, twenty- 
four wide at bottom, and thirty-two at top, and admit 
boats of ten tons. It is proper to state, that at first, 
wooden locks had been erected at the Little Falls, and 
brick locks on the summit canal. At both places they 
had become totally unfit for service at the end of seven 
years, and it was necessary to replace them by stone 
locks ; a circumstance which increased considerably the 
undertaking. 

Several minor improvements have been made on the 
Mohawk ; and the navigation of Wood Creek, of which 
the principal defect is want of water, has been improved 
by raising dams, and by the erection of four temporary 
wooden locks. But until a canal shall have been open¬ 
ed the whole distance from the summit level to Lake 
Oneida, the navigation will be imperfect, and the profits 
inconsiderable. 

The funds of the company do not enable them to un¬ 
dertake the necessary improvements at the two extre- 





45 


mities of the line, a canal around the Cohoes Falls to 
tide water, and another canal from Lake Oneida to Lake 
Ontario. The usual portage at the first place is from 
Schenectady to Albany, and a very good and expensive 
artificial road of 16 miles, made by another company, 
unitds the two towns. Another company has lately 
been incorporated for the purpose of making an artifi¬ 
cial road at the other extremity of the line from Rotter¬ 
dam, on Lake Oneida, to Salmon Creek, on Lake On¬ 
tario. 

The capital of the company is 232.000 dollars, of 
which the State of New-York owns 92,000. But, with 
the exception of one dividend of 3 per cent, all the tolls 
have been applied to the works ; and including these 
and a debt of 20,000 dollars due by the company, the 
whole expenditure amounts to 370,000 dollars. The 
annual toiis do not yet exceed 13,000 dollars. 

III. Niagara . 

1 he fall from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario has already 

0 

been st: ted at 450 feet. A company had also been in¬ 
corporated by the State of Ncw-York for the purpose of 
opening a canal at this place; but it does not appear 
that any thing was attempted after the survey had been 
made. The intention seems to have been to open a ca¬ 
nal navigation for boats only f; om Fort Schlosser to De¬ 
vil’s Hole, the Lake itself and Giles’s Creek would have 
supplied the water, and the expense was estimated at 
437,000 dollars. 

It is, however, evident that the canal, in order to be 
as eminently useful as the nature of the undertaking 
teems to require, should be on such a scale as to admit 
.vessels which can navigate both lakes. Considering 
the distance, which in that case must be extended to a- 
bout ten miles, and the lockage of 450 feet, it is not be¬ 
lieved that the expense can be estimated at less than 
1,000,000 dollars. 

The works necessary to effect water communications 


46 


between the tide water of the North River, the St. Law¬ 
rence, and all the lakes, (Lake Superior only excepted,) 
are therefore estimated at four millions of dollars : 
Northern navigation to Lake Champlain, g 800,000 
Western navigation to Lake Ontario, 2,200,000 

Falls of Niagara for a sloop navigation, 1,000 000 


4,000,000 


The papers relative to these communications will be 
found under the letter (B.) But their utility will not 
be confined to the extensive navigation of the lakes 
themselves. For the mountains being completely tur¬ 
ned, when arrived into Lake Erie, the ridge which se¬ 
parates the waters empty wig into that and into Lake 
Michigan, from the northern branches of the Ohio, and 
from the waters of the Mississippi, is of a moderate ele¬ 
vation, and is gradually depressed in its course west- 
wardly. There is no doubt of the practicability of ope¬ 
ning canals at a future period, between several of those 
waters, either by selecting proper levels, or by means of 
short tunnels across favourable parts of the ridge. It 
will at present be sufficient to point out the principal 
communications now in use. 

The distance from lake Erie to lake Chetoughe, an 
extensive and important elevated reservoir, which is 
the source of the Canowaugo branch of the Alleghany, 
is seven miles, by a continual ascent, the elevation of 
which is not ascertained. 

From Presque Isle, on Lake Erie, to Le Beuf, on 
French Creek, anotherbranch of the Alleghany, the dis¬ 
tance is sixteen miles, and a company is incorporated 
by the State of Pennsylvania, for making an artificial 
road across that portage. 

The navigation from lake Chetouge, and from Le 
Beuf, to Pittsburgh, offers no impediment whenever 
the waters are high ; and the greater part of the salt 
now consumed in the north west counties of Pennsyl¬ 
vania, as far as Pittsburgh, and some distance down the 
Ohio, is brought from the salt springs of New-York, 





47 


by Oswego, through Lake Ontario ; then across the 
portage of Niagara, to Lake Erie, and then by either of 
the two last mentioned portages, to the waters of the 
river Alleghany. 

The distance from the place where the Cayuga, a ri¬ 
ver emptying into Lake Erie, ceases to be navigable, to 
the navigable waters of the Muskingum, which empties 
into the Ohio 170 miles below Pittsburgh, is only six 
miles ; and a company is said to be formed for the im¬ 
provement of that communication. 

Sandusky River and the Scioto, take their sources in 
the same swamp. The navigation of the Miami of 
Lake Erie, is interrupted by some falls ; but its upper 
branches approach those of the Miami of the Ohio, and 
of the W abash, and are stated as being nearly on the 
same level. 

The Illinois River, which empties into the Mississip¬ 
pi above St. Louis, rises in a swamp, which, when the 
waters are high, affords a natural canoe navigation to 
the sources of Chicago Creek, a short stream which 
falls into Lake Michigan, at its southern extremity. 

Another communication generally used by the Indian 
traders, istnat from Green Bay, also in Lake Michigan, 
to the Mississippi, by Fox River, and the Ouisconsing. 
Nor is there any doubt that if the inland navigation be¬ 
tween the North River and the L^Les, was completely 
opened, the whole inland trade, either of the Mississip¬ 
pi, by Lake Michigan, or of the north west by Lake Su¬ 
perior, must necessarily centre in an Atlantic port of the 
United States. A consideration of minor importance, 
as a commercial object, when compared with the other 
advantages of that great communication, but of great 
weight in its relation to the political intercourse of the 
United States with the Indians. 


INTERIOR CANAL3. 

Under this denomination, will be included all the ca¬ 
nals of which any knowledge has been obtained, and 


A Q 

which are not immediately ©n the rivers opening com¬ 
munications with the western waters, or with those of 
the St. Lawrence, although some of them may be con¬ 
sidered as extending those communications to more re¬ 
mote sea-ports. The documents from which the infor¬ 
mation is extracted, will be found under the letters 
(Cc.) 

I. Merrimack . 

The navigation of that river which, rising in the 
State of New-Hampshire, falls into the sea, at Newbu- 
ryport, after a course of 180 miles, is interrupted by 
several falls. A canal, called Blodget’s canal, has been 
oprned around Amoskeag Falls. Lower down, and 
about 40 miles from the sea, the Essex canal, 4 miles in 
length and admitting bouts drawing three feet and a half, 
will open a communication around the Patucket Falls, 
effecting, through three locks, a descent of 34 feet. 
From the lower extremity of the canal, the river is na¬ 
vigable to the head of the tide, at Havenhill, although 
the fall be 45 feet within that distance. No particular 
account has been received of the capital expended ; but 
it is believed that the work will be profitable to the un¬ 
dertakers. 

The Middlesex canal, uniting the waters of that ri¬ 
ver with the haibour of Boston, is however the greatest 
work of the kind which has keen completed in the 
United States. 

That canal, 12 feet wide, and three and a half feet 
deep, draws its supply of water from Sudbury or Con¬ 
cord River, a branch of the Merrimack ; and from the 
summit ground extends six miles with a descent of 28 
feet to the Merrimack, above the Patucket Fails, and 22 
miles with a descent of 107 feet to the tide water of 
the harbour of Boston. The descent to the Merri¬ 
mack, is effected by three, and th: to tide water, by 
nineteen locks. They are all 90 feet lo ig, 12 feet 
wide, of solid masonry, and excellent workmanship. 


49 


In order to open that canal, it was necessary, to dig 
in some places at the depth of 20 feet, to cut through 
ledges of rocks, to fill some valleys, and morasses, and 
to throw several aqueducts across the intervening ri¬ 
vers. One of these across the river Shawshine, is 280 
feet long, and 22 feet above the river. All those ob¬ 
stacles have been overcome, and boats of 24 tons, 75 
feet long, and 11 feet wide can navigate the canal. 
Tho$e in most general use, are of smaller dimensions, 
and are drawn by two horses, at the rate of three miles 
an hour. A raft of one mile in length, and containing 
eight hundred tons of timber, has been drawn by tw 7 o 
oxen, part of the way, at the rate of one mile in an 
hour. Common boats pass from one end of the canal, 
to the other in 12 hours. The capital expended on the 
work, is stated at 478,000 dollars, and the water rights, 
and necessary land cost a further sum of 5S.0G0 dol¬ 
lars. The total expense has exceeded 5 50,000 dollars j 
the tolls have never yet exceeded 1 7,000 dollars a year, 
but are increasing. * 

Several other canals have been contemplated in the 
Slate of Massachusetts, intended to unite the waters of 
Providence, or Patucket River, with those of diaries 
River, which falls into the harbour of Boston, and of 
the river Connecticut. The grounds have been sur¬ 
veyed, but no particular description has been obtained, 
and the works have not yet been commenced. 

II. Schuylkill and Delaware. 

A company was incorporated several years ago, by 
■the State of Pennsylvania, for opening a canal from 
Norristown, on the river Schuylkill, to the tide water 
of the Delaware at Philadelphia. The distance is 16 
miles, the tall 53 feet, and the canal deriving its waters 
from the Schuylkill, would have been carried on a level 
to Philadelphia, and in its descent to the Delaware, 
supplied the city with water, and the shipping with 
docks. The expense had been estimated at 532,000 
dollar* ; the work was commenced, one third part of 

sc 



50 


the digging effected, and a considerable sum expended. 
But either from want of funds, or from an improper se¬ 
lection of the ground, or from other causes not fully 
understood, the undertaking, if not altogether abandon¬ 
ed, has been suspended for several years. 

This canal was intended as the first link of an exten¬ 
sive western communication. The Schuylkill from 
Norristown, to Reading, 46 miles higher up the river, 
being navigable a great portion of the year, was consid¬ 
ered as the next link. 

III. Schuylkill and Susquehaimah. 

Another company was incorporated for the purpose 
erf opening an inland navigation, between Reading on 
the Schuylkill, to Middletown, on the Susquehaimah. 
Both towns are in the great Limestone Valley, beyond 
the Blue Ridge, and the distance is 70 miles. It had 
been at first supposed, that it would be sufficient to cut 
a canal four miles in length, on the summit level be¬ 
tween the two rivers ; aud thereby to unite the Tulpe- 
hocken, which falls into the Schuylkill, with the Quiti- 
pa! ilia, a branch of the Swatara, which empties into the 
Susquehannah. But it was soon ascertained, that the 
original plan of improving, by a succession of dams, 
the navigation of those small rivers was erroneous, and 
that it would be necessary to cut a canal the whole way . 

The summit level is at an elevation of 310 feet above 
the Schm Ikill, and of 308 feet above the Scsquehannah. 
Adjacent springs are consideied sufficient for the upper 
locks ; and the creeks would, after a short descent, af¬ 
ford an abundant supply. The proposed dimensions of 
the canal, were a breadth of 20 feet at the bottom, and 
a depth of three feet and a half; and the expense was 
estimated at near 1,500.000 dollars. 

The work was commenced, the canal has been cut 
the whole distance of four miles on the summit level; 
five locks made of brick, have been constructed ; land 
and water rights have been purchased, and a considera¬ 
ble capital ha? been expended. But although the State 



51 


of Pennsylvania, has permitted the company to miss 
266 000 dollars by lottery, and is bound to pay to them 
300,000 dollars, whenever the work shall have been 
completed, it remains suspended for want of funds. 

The great lockage necessary for this canal, is the 
principal objection to that line of communication ; and 
it has been suggested, that a canal from Columbia on 
the Susquehannah, to tide water, or to the great Dela¬ 
ware and Chesapeake canal, would be much less expen¬ 
sive, and equally beneficial, both tu the interior country, 
and to Philadelphia. This question, as many others 
suggested in this report cannot be decided by any, but 
practical and skilltul engineers. 

IV. Appomattox. 

A company has been incorporated for opening a caivd 
From the upper end of the falls of that river, which is 
the south branch »f James River, to Petersburg!] on 
the head of the tide. The distance is five miles, and 
the descent more than thirty feet to a basin about sixty 
feet above the tide, in which the canal will terminate. 
The water is drawn from the river; and the canal, 16 
feet wide, 3 feet deep, and admitting boats of six tons, is 
nearly completed. The capital already expended 
amounts to sixty thousand dollars. But the company 
own thirty negroes, and suppose that their labour and a 
further sum often thousand dollars, will be sufficient to 
build the locks, and to dig about half a mile, which re¬ 
mains to be cut, in order to open the communication 
between the river and the basin. This work, which has 
been carried on with much zeal, and at a small expense, 
will open an important navigation of near 100 miles. 

V. Neuse and Beaufort. 

The harbour of Beanfort, in North-Carolina, and 
which must not be confounded with that of the same 
name in South-Carolina, admits vessels drawing eigh- 


52 


teen feet of water. Ocracoke Inlet, the only navigable 
entrance into the Pamtico and Albermarle sounds, that 
extensive aestuary of the rivers Chowan, Roanoke, Tar, 
and Neuse, has less water and is miles from New- 
bern, on the last-mentioned river. The distance be¬ 
tween Newport, or Beaufort River, and the Neuse be¬ 
ing only three miles, and the elevation of the highest 
intervening ground no more than seven feet above tide 
water, a canal uniting the two rivers was undertaken by 
a company incorporated for that purpose by the State of 
North-Carolina. All the shares have, from particular 
circumstances, become the property of one individual ; 
and the work which had been commenced some years 
ago, is now suspended. 

VI. Cape Feat' Fiver . 

A company, incorporated by the same State for im¬ 
proving the navigation of this river, after having ex¬ 
hausted a portion of their funds, which did not exceed 
twelve thousand dollars in fruitless attempts to improve- 
the natural navigation of the l iver, have opened a canal 
with a lock, which opens a safe passage around the 
Buck-Horn, oi Great Falls, seven miles below the junc¬ 
tion of the Deep and Haw River. Another canal, six 
miles in length, with two locks, is necessary around 
Smilic’s Falls. Nearly half that distance has been 
completed ; but tire work is now suspended for want of 
funds. The legislature has lately authorized the com¬ 
pany to increase their capital. 

VII. JVeiv-Or/eans. 

• The canal Carondelet, which has already been men¬ 
tioned, extends from Bayou St. John to the fortifica¬ 
tions or ditch of the city, and thereby opens an inland 
communication with Lake Ponchartrain. A company 
is* incorporated by the Territorial legislature, for the 
purpose of repairing and improving that work, and of 


53 


smiting the canal by locks with the Mississippi. Iade- 
pendent of other advantages, this undertaking would en¬ 
able government to transport with facility, and use the 
same naval force for the defence of both the Mississip¬ 
pi and Lake Ponchartrain, the two great avenues by 
which Nevv-Orleans may be approached from the sea. 

TURNFIKE, OR ARTIFICIAL ROADS. 

A great number of artificial roads have been com¬ 
pleted in the eastern and middle States, at an expense 
varying from less than one thousand to fourteen thou¬ 
sand dollars a mile. The labour bestowed on the least 
expensive species consists in shortening the distance, 
diminishing the ascent of hills, removing rocks, level¬ 
ling, raising, and giving a proper shape to the bed of 
the roads, draining them by ditches, and erecting bridg¬ 
es over the intervening streams. But the natural soil 
of the road is used, instead of covering it with a stratum 
of gravel or pounded stones. 

It appears by one of the papers marked (D), under 
which letter will be found ail the information which has 
been obtained respecting roads, that fifty turnpike «om- 
panies have been incorporated, since the year 1803, in 
the State of Connecticut alone ; and that the roads un¬ 
dertaken by those companies are all of that description. 
Thirty-nine of those roads extending together 770 
miles, are completed. The most expensive is that 
from New-Haven to Hartford, which has cost 79,261 
dollars ; or, the distance being thirty-four miles and 
three quarters, at the rate of 2,280 dollars a mile ; but 
about 18,000 dollars of the capital have been expended 
in the purchase of the land through which the road is 
carried. The nett income on this road, deducting the 
annual repairs and expenses from the annual tolls, does 
not exceed 3,000 dollars. Of six of the roads, which 
together extend 120 miles, no account has been receiv¬ 
ed. The other thirty-two extend together 615 miles, 
and have cost only 340,000 dollars ; or on an average at 
the rate of 5b0 dollars a mile ; and it seems that the 

e «. > 




54 


aggregate of annual tolls on the whole is 8 S ,000 dollars 5 
from which deducting the annual repairs and expenses 
amounting to 48,000 dollars, leaves a nett income of 
38,000 d®llars, or of about 11 per cent, on the capital 
expended. 

No particular account has been received of the roads 
in the other eastern States ; but it is known that, be¬ 
sides some of a similar description with those of the 
State of Connecticut, several of a more expensive kind 
have been completed, particularly in Massachusetts. 
The cost has varied from 3,000 to 14,000 dollars a 
mile, and, amongst artificial roads of the first grade, 
may be mentioned those from Boston to Providence, 
to Salem, and to Nevvburyport. These are all covered 
with an artificial stratum of gravel or pounded stones, 
and finished in the most substantial manner. Great 
expense has also been incurred in order to shorten the 
distance without exceeding the angle of ascent, which 
is fixed at five degrees, and it is stated that the road to 
Nevvburyport, 32 miles in length, and in which marshes 
and rocks presented considerable obstacles, has cost 
400,000 dollars, or at the rate of 12,500 dollars a mile. 
Those expensive roads, however useful and permanent, 
appear to be much less profitable than those of Con¬ 
necticut The Salem road is said to yield six per cent, j 
another road has been stated as yielding eight per cent.; 
the income of all the others in the State of Massachu¬ 
setts, is said n®t to exceed on an average three per cen¬ 
tum, and that of the road from Boston to Newbury port 
amounts to no more than two per cent. 

A greater capital has been vested on turnpike roads 
in the State of New^fork than in any other. In less 
than seven years sixty-seven companies have been in¬ 
corporated, with a nominal capital of near five millions 
cf dollars, for the purpose of making more than 3,000 
miles of artificial roads; and 21 other companies have 
also been incorporated with a capital of 400.000 dollars, 
for the purpose of erecting twenty-one toll bridges. 
Although no particular account has been received, ei¬ 
ther of the capital actually expended, of the annua! 



55 


amount of tolls, or of the materials of the roads, it b 
known that great progress has been made ; and it ha* 
been stated that nine hundred miles of road were alrea¬ 
dy completed by 28 companies, whose capital amounted 
to 1,800,000 dollars, and who hacl 20d miles of road 
more to finish. 

„ Those roads extend in every direction, but particular¬ 
ly from every town or village on the North River, west- 
wardly and northwestwardly towards the waters of the 
SusqUehannah, and those of the great lakes. The most 
expensive is that from Albany to Schenectady, fourteen 
miles long, and which has cost at the rate of ten thou¬ 
sand dollars a mile. Near one hundred and forty miles 
of roads, extending westwardly from Albany and Sche¬ 
nectady, appear to have cost at the rate of 2,500 or 3000 
dollars a mile. The expense of all the others does not 
seem on an average to exceed I,?50 dollars a mile- 

More detailed information has been obtained respect¬ 
ing the roads in New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Mary¬ 
land. 

In New-Jersey a turnpike road has lately been com¬ 
pleted from Trenton to Brunswick. The distance is 
twenty-five miles ; the greatest angle of ascent 3 de¬ 
grees, and the road is nearly in a straight line, the only 
considerable obstruction being the u Sand Hills,” 
through which it was necessary to dig at the depth of 
thirty feet, in order not to exceed the angle of ascent.—* 
The road is 36 feet wide, fifteen feet of which are cove¬ 
red with about six inches of gravel. A few wooden 
bridges, with stone abutments and piers, have been erec¬ 
ted across the intervening streams. The whole expense 
is stated at 2 500 dollars a mile. From Brunswick, the 
road will be extended to Elizabethtown, and the work is 
now progressing. Another roacl has been undertaken 
in the same state, from Brunswick to Easton, on the ri¬ 
ver Delaware The distance is 43 miles, of which ele¬ 
ven have been completed at an expense of 40,0©0 dolls. 
This road will be more expensive than the preceding, 
both on account of the ground, the bridges being more 
numerous, and the Blue Ridge (Musconekong Moun® 


5G 


lain) intervening ; and because a more substantial fa¬ 
cing or greater thickness of gravel is requisite. The 
funds of the company are exhausted. 

In Pennsylvania, artificial roads of the most substan¬ 
tial kind have been completed, or are progressing from 
Philadelphia, in sundry directions. 

The principal are to Bristol and Trenton, twelve miles 
of which are completed ; to Germantown and Perkio- 
men, with two branches ; to Willow Grove and to Ches- 
nut Hill; and to Lancaster and Columbia, with a branch 
to Harrisburgh. 

The distance from Philadelphia to Perkiomen is 25 
miles and a quarter ; the two branches extend, one ten 
miles and the other 7 miles and a half ; making together 
near 43 miles. The angle of ascent is 4 degrees; the 
breadth of the road 50 teet, of which 28 feet, having a 
convexity of 15 inches, are covered with a stratum ei¬ 
ther of gravel 18 inches thick, or of pounded stones 12 
inches thick. One half of the stones forming the lower 
part of the stratum, are bioken into pieces not more 
than five inches in diameter. The other halt or upper 
part of the stratum, consists of stones broken into pieces 
not more than two inches and a half in diameter : and 
this difference in the size of the stones is represented 
as a considerable defect. Side or summer roads extend 
on each side of the gravel or stone road. The 5 miles 
next to Philadelphia, have cost at the rate of g 14,5 i 7 
a mile: the other 20 1-2 miles at the rate of S 10,490 
a mile. Yet there were no natural impediments, and 
only small bridges or culverts were necessary. The ca¬ 
pital expended on these 2 5 miles and a half is 285,00©. 
dollars: the tolls amount to 19,000 dollars : the annual 
repairs and expenses to 10,000 dollars: the nett income 
to about 9,000 dollars, or little more than 3 percent, on 
the capital expended. 

The distance from the Schuylkill, at Philadelphia tf 
Lancaster is 62 miles and a quarter. Exclusively ol 
the side or summer roads, twenty-four feet of the bed 
of the road are covered with a stratum of pounded stones 
eighteen inches thick in the middle of the road, and de- 


57 


creasing each way to 12 inches. The Valley Hills are 
the most elevated and sleep on the road ; but the angle 
of ascent no where exceeds 4 degrees. Stone bridges 
have been erected across all the intervening streams.— 
That across the river Conestogo consisting of nine arch¬ 
es is private property ; and the most expensive built by 
the company is that across the Brandywine, consisting 
of three arches of solid masonry, and which cost twelve 
thousand dollars. The capital of the company amoun¬ 
ted to 360 000 dollars ; but this being insufficient it be¬ 
came necessary to apply a considerable portion of the 
tolls to the completion of the work. The whole ex¬ 
pense amounts to 465 000 dollars, or at the rateol about 
7500 dollars a mile. The annual tolls have not yet excee¬ 
ded 25,000 dollars ; and the annual repairs and expenses 
are estimated at 13 000, leaving a nett income of about 
12 000 dollars. The prospect of an increased profit, de¬ 
rived from the proposed extension of the road, has how¬ 
ever raised the price of that stock nearly to par. 

The Lancaster road, the first extensive turnpike that 
was completed in the United States, is the first link of 
the great western communication from Philadelphia — 
It has been extended ten miles westwardly to Columbia 
on the Susqjehannah ; and another branch.is now pro¬ 
gressing northwestwardly to Harrisburg*h, also on the 
Susquehannah, and thirty-six miles from Lancaster.— 
The State of Pennsylvania has also incorporated two 
companies in order to extend the road by two different 
routes as far as Pittsburgh on the Ohio, and near 300 
miles from Philadelphia. The southern route following 
the main post-road, passes by Bedford and Somerset.— 
The northern route passes by Huntingdon and Franks- 
town, the highestpoint to which the Juniata branch of 
the Susquehannah is navigable. To this route the state 
has authorized the subscription of one hundred thousand 
dollars. 

Other roads in a north-west direction from Philadel¬ 
phia towards the Gennessee and Presque Isle on Lake 
Erie are also progressing, arid have been encouraged by 
the subscriptions or donations of the legislature. They 


58 


are generally on a much less extensive plan, than those 
in the direction of Pittsburgh. A section of thirty miles 
from Lausanne on the Lehigh to Nescopeck on the Sus- 
quehannah has been completed at the expense of thirty- 
six thousand dollars, by a company ; and it is intended 
to extend it seventy miles further to Newton on the Tio¬ 
ga branch of the Susquehannah. 

In Maryland, roads extending from Baltimore in va¬ 
rious directions have lately been undartaken by several 
companies, and are rapidly progressing. On the falls 
turnpike, which extends in a northerly direction, about 
four miles of a road 22 feet wide, covered with a stratum 
of pounded stones 10 inches thick, and having an ascent 
not exceeding 4 degrees, have been completed at the 
rate of 7,500 dollars a mile. 

The “ Keister Town” turnpike, in a north-westward- 
Iy direction, extends 15 miles to that village; whence 
two branches extending, one 19 and the other 29 mile* 
further, will enter Pennsylvania, at two different places. 
The road 24 feet wide is covered with a stratum 12 in* 
ches thick, of pounded stones not more than three inch¬ 
es in diameter. The angle of ascent does not exceed 
three degreesand a half Ten miles have been comple¬ 
ted at the expense of 10,000 dollars a mile, and the work 
is progressing. The capital of the company amount* 
to 420,000 dollars. 

The capital of the “ Frederick Town” turnpike com¬ 
pany amounts to 500,000 dollars ; and the company is 
authorized to open the great western road, as far as 
Boonsborough, beyond the Blue Ridge, and 62 miles 
from Baltimore. The angle of ascent will not exceed 
4 degrees ; the road has a convexity of 9 inches, and on 
a breadth of 22 feet, is covered with a stratum 10 inch¬ 
es thick of pounded stones not exceeding 3 inches in 
diameter, over which are spread 2 inches of gravel or 
coarse sand. The first 20 miles next to Baltimore, have 
cost at the rate of 9,000 dollars, and the next 17 miles 
are contracted for at the rate of 7 000 dollars a mile. 

The distance from Boonsborough to Cumberland, at 
the loot of the Alleghany mountain, following the pre- 


59 


scat road, is 71 miles ; ami, although the company is 
not yet authorized to extend the turnpike to that place, 
the ground has been surveyed, and it is ascertained that 
the road may be continued with an angle of ascent not 
exceeding 4 degrees. The ascent of the road laid out 
by the United States, from Cumberland to Brownsville, 
on the Monongahela, does not exceed 5 degrees, and 
the distance is 72 miles ; making the whole distance of 
a turnpike road from Baltimore to the navigable waters 
of the Ohio, 207 miles. 1 he distance from the city of 
Washington to the same spot on the Monongahela, is 
some miles shorter, being, as has already been stated, 
the shortest communication between tide water, and 
the navigable western waters. 

South of the Potomack, few artificial roads have been 
undertaken. From Alexandria, one is now progres¬ 
sing in a north-westwardly direction, towards Middle- 
burgh. Another has lately been commenced, from 
Richmond to Ross* coal mine.— But the only one which, 
so far as any accounts have been received, is completed, 
extends 12 miles from Manchester, opposite to Rich¬ 
mond, in a vvestwardly direction to the coal mines of 
Falling Greek. This road, 36 feet wide, is gravelled, 
and has cost 50,000 dollars ; but the last four miles did 
not cost more than at the rate of .3,000 dollars a mile.—> 
Yet it is sufficiently substantial, the route being very le¬ 
vel, to admit waggons carrying four tons. 

The greater progress made in the improvement of 
roads in the northern parts of the Union, must be prin¬ 
cipally ascribed to a more compact population, which 
renders those improvements more necessary, and at the 
same time supplies with greater facility the means of 
effecting them. The same difference is perceptible in 
the number of bridges erected in the several States. 

In the eastern States, and particularly Massachusetts, 
wooden bridges uniting boldness to elegance, and ha¬ 
ving no defect but want of durability, have been erected 
over the broadest and deepest rivers. In the lower 
counties of Pennsylvania, stone bridges are generally 
found across all the small streams. Both in that State 


60 


and at some distance eastwardly,bridges with stone piers 
and abutments, and a wooden superstructure, are com¬ 
mon over wide rivers. Of these, the most expensive, 
and which may be considered as first in the United 
States, is the permanent Schuylkill bridge near Phila¬ 
delphia, erected by a company at an expense of 300,000 
dollars. Its length, including the abutments, does not 
exceed 750 feet, and it is supported only by two piers 
and the abutments. But those piers, 195 feet apart, are 
of the most solid workmanship, and one of them was 
sunk at a depth of more than 24 feet below low water.-— 
The bridge is 42 feet wide, and the wooden superstruc¬ 
ture is enclosed and covered with a shingle roof. 

The want of bridges south of Pennsylvania, even or 
the main post road, is sensibly felt. One lately thrown 
across the Potomack, three miles above the city of 
Washington, and which, without any intervening piers, 
is wholly suspended to iron chains extending from bunk 
to bank, deserves notice, on account of the boldness of 
its construction, and of its comparative cheapness. 
The principle of this neV plan, derived from the tena¬ 
city of iron, seems applicable to all rapid streams of a 
moderate breadth. 

The general principles of improved roads seem to be, 
1st, the reduction ol hills, by diminishing the angle of 
ascent, which ought not to exceed, whenever practica¬ 
ble, three degrees and a half, and under no circumstan¬ 
ces, five degrees : 2dly, a sufficient convexity in the bed 
of the road, together with ditches and drains, all which 
are intended to prevent the injury caused by standing 
water or freshets: 3d, an artificial bed of .pounded 
stones or gravel sufficiently substantial to support the 
weight of the carriages in general use on the road, ei¬ 
ther for the conveyance of peisous, or for the transpor¬ 
tation of merchandise. 

On the last point it appears from the facts already 
stated, or scattered in the communications received on 
that subject : 1st, that the stones ought to be similar in 
quality and reduced to the same size, which should not 
•xceed three inches in diameter ; 2d, that the prefer a- 


ble qualities of stone, rank, in the following order : 
hard black stone, granite, flint or quartz, blue lime 
stone, white do. ; 3d, that the stratum may be either 
of pounded stones, 12 inches thick, or of pounded stones 
10 inches thick, with two inches of gravel spread over 
the stones ; or entirely of gravel 18 inches thick : 4th, 
that when the materials are equally convenient, the ex¬ 
pense of those three modes v, ill not materially differ, 
but that the rate of expense depends principally on the 
number of hills and bridges, distance of materials, 
breadth of the road, and price of labour : and 5th, that 
the general adoption of broad wheels for the transpor¬ 
tation of heavy loads, is necessary to the full enjoyment 
of the advantages expected from the most substantial ar¬ 
tificial roads. On the degree of convexity and on the 
proper shape to be given to the natural bed of the road, 
under the artificial stratum, a diversity of opii uns seem 
to prevail. 

The roads heretofore made may be divided into three 
general classes. 

i. Those where the only improvement consists in the 
reduction of hills, and in the convexity and ditches of 
the road, whereby the angle of ascent is rendered more 
easy and standing water excluded ; but where the na¬ 
tural soil is used without any artificial stratum. The 
expense of these roads may v.iry according to local cir¬ 
cumstances, and the perfection of the work, from five 
hundred to one thousand dollars a mile. They are most 
generally in use in the eastern States, and may be intro¬ 
duced with advantage in all those districts of country 
where wealth does not admit more expensive improve¬ 
ments, or where the materials of an artificial stratum 
are altogether wanting. It is only in the last case that 
they may be considered as a national object ; and no 
other improvement besides bridges and causeways is, 
perhap.i, practicable in the lower country of the southern 
States Iron, and even timber rail roads, nay. howev¬ 
er, be sometimes substituted in those level p irts ol tne 
country, where stones and g»avel are not to be founu*, 

Ff 


62 


2. Roads prepared as above, of a reduced breadth, 
and covered with a thin coat of gravel not more than 
six or nine inches thick ; such as the turnpike lately 
made between Trenton and Brunswick These roads, 
the expense of which may be estimated at about 3,000 
dollars a mile, may be used wherever the frost does not 
materially affect them, and in every climate, when 
they are intended principally for the conveyance of 
persons, and not for the transportation of heavy loads. 

3. The artificial roads of the best construction, such 
as have been already described. These, when not ex¬ 
ceeding 22 feet in breadth, and except in the vicinity of 
large cities, will cost at the rate of 7.000 dollars a mile, 
exclusively of bridges over large rivers. And they 
must be resorted to, whenever a commercial road for 
heavy transportation is intended, particularly in the mid¬ 
dle States^ or rather in the United States, between 41 
and 36 degrees of north latitude. North of the 41st 
degree the snow lies generally during the whole win¬ 
ter ; and the great bulk of heavy transportation is effect¬ 
ed in sleighs during that season. There is, therefore, 
less necessity for using the roads in the spring ; and 
the y are also better protected against the effects of the 
frost by the snow. South of the 36th degree, which, 
in the Atlantic States, may be considered as the boun¬ 
dary of the great cotton cultivation, the frost does not 
materially injure the roads. It is between those two 
extremes that the most substantial are required ; and 
it also happens that the great land communications with 
the western country, which considerably increase the 
amount of transportation, are principally within the 
same limits. 

The same principles which have directed the arrange¬ 
ment adopted in this report in relation to canals, will al¬ 
so point out those roads which seem in the first instanc 
to claim the patronage of the general government. 

Those which appear most necessary for the commt 
ideations between the Atlantic and western livers ha 1 
already been mentioned, under that head; and the i 
provement of the water communic- 


63 


North River and the great lakes ought to take the pre¬ 
cedence of any other in that direction. 

That road which, therefore seems exclusively to 
cl dm public attention, is a great turnpike extending 
from Maine to Georgia in the general direction of the 
sea-coast and main post-road, and passing through all 
the principal sea-ports. The general convenience a»d 
importance of such a work are too obvious to require 
any comments: and the expense seems to be the pri¬ 
mary object of consideration. 

The distance will be roughly estimated at 1,600 
miles ; and from what has been stated on the subject of 
roads generally, it may be inferred that the greater part 
of the road being intended almost exclusively for trav¬ 
elling, and not for transportation of heavy articles, the 
expense cannot exceed the rate of 3 000 dollars a mile. 
For although some detached portions of the route, be¬ 
ing commercial roads, must be improved as such, and 
at a greater expense, an equivalent reduction in other 
parts will result from those portions which are already 
improved by private companies, and from the impossi¬ 
bility, for want of materials for an artificial stratum, of 
going in some places beyond what has been described 
as the first or cheapest species of turnpikes. The 
whole expense may therefore be estimated at 4,800,000 
dollars. 

A secondary object, but of more importance to govern¬ 
ment than to individuals, would be the improvement, on 
a much less expensive scale, of certain portion of roads 
leading to some points on the extremes of the union, 
intended principally for the purpose of accelerating the 
progress of the mail, and the prompt transmission of 
information of a public nature. The points contem¬ 
plated are Detroit, St. Louis, in Upper Louisiana, and 
New-Orleans. The portions of road which, traversing 
a wilderness, cannot be improved without the aid of the 
United States are, from the Tuscarora branch of the 
Muskingum to Detroit ; from Cincinnati, by Vincennes, 
to St. Louis ; atxl from Nashville, in Tennessee, or 
Athens, in Georgia, to Natches. The expense necessa- 


64 


ry to enable the mail, and even stages, to proceed at the 
rate of 80 miles a day, m~iy, at the rate of about 200 
dollars a mile, including bridges over all the small 
streams, be estimated for those three roads, at 200,00® 
dollars. 


RECAPITULATION AND RESOURCES. 

The improvements which have been respectfully sug¬ 
gested as most important, in order to facilitate the com¬ 
munication between the great geographical divisions of 
the United States, will now be recapitulated ; and their 
expense compared with the resources applicable to that 
object. 

I. From north to south, in a direction parallel to the 
sea coast. 


Dollar 

1. Canals opening an inland naviga¬ 
tion for sea vessels from Massa¬ 
chusetts to North-Carolina, being 
more than two thirds of the Atlan¬ 
tic sea-coast of the United States, 
and across all the principal capes, 

cape Fear Excepted, 3,000,000 

2. A great turnpike road from 
Maine to Georgia, along the whole 

extent of the Atlantic sea coast, 4,800,000 

—-—7,800,00# 

II. From east to west, forming 
communications across the moun¬ 
tains oetween the Atlantic and wes¬ 
tern waters : 

1. Improvement of the navigation 
of four great Atlantic rivers, in¬ 
cluding canals parallel to them, 1,500,00# 

3. Four first rate turnpike roads 
from those rivers across the moun¬ 
tains, to the four corresponding: 



65 


Dollars, 

Brought forward) * 7,800,000 

western rivers, 2,800,000 

3. Canal around the falls of the 

Ohio, 300,000 

4. I improvement of roads to Detroit, 

St Louis, and New-Orleans, 200,000 

-4,800,00© 

III. In a northern and north weat- 
ardly direction, forming inland navi¬ 
gations between the Atlantic sea- 
coast, and the great lakes and the 
St. Lawrence : 

1. Inland navigation between the 

North River and Lake Cham¬ 
plain, 800,000 

2. Great inland navigation opened 
the whole way by canals, from the 

North River to Lake Ontario, 2,200,000 

3. Canal around the falls and rapids 

of Niagara, opening a sloop navi¬ 
gation from Lake Ontario to the 
upper lakes, as far as the extrem¬ 
ities of Lake Michigan, 1,000.000 

~-4.000 000 

Making together, g 16 600 000 

wmdmm* 

IV. The great geographical features of the country 
have been solely adhered to in pointing out those lines 
of communication : and these appear to embrace ail 
the great interests of the Union, and to be calcul -ted to 
diffuse and increase the national wealth in a very gene¬ 
ral way, by opening an intercourse between the remot¬ 
est extremes of the United States. Yet it must neces¬ 
sarily result from an adherence to that principle, that 
those parts of the Atlantic States through which the 
great western and north-west communications will be 
carried, must, in addition to the general advantages in 
which they will participate, receive from those commu- 

rf 2 









66 


ideations greater local and immediate benefits than th® 
eastern, and perhaps southern States As the expense 
must be defrayed from the general funds of the Union, 
justice, and perhaps policy not less than justice, seem 
to require that a number of local improvements, suffi¬ 
cient to equalize the advantages, should also be underta¬ 
ken in those States, parts of States or distric.s, which are 
less immediately interested in those inland communica¬ 
tions. Arithtm tical precision cannot, indeed, be obtain¬ 
ed in objects of that kind j nor would an apportionment of 
the moneys applied, according to the population of each 
State, be either just or practicable ; since roads, and 
particularly canals, are often of greater utility to the 
Slates which they unite than to those through which 
they pass. But a sufficient number of local improve¬ 
ments, consisting either of roads or canals, may, with¬ 
out any material difficulty, be selected so as to do sub¬ 
stantial justice, and give general satisfaction. Without 
pretending to suggest what would be the additional sum 
necessary for that object, it will, for the sake of round 
numbers, be estimated at 3,400 000 

Which, added t<5 the sum estimated for 
general improvements, I 6.60© 000 

Would make an aggregate of 20 mill¬ 
ions of dollars, 20.000 000 


An annual appropriation of two millions of dollars 
would accomplish all those great objects in ten years, 
and may, without inconvenience, be supplied in time of 
peace by the existing revenues and resources of the 
United States. This may be exemplified in several 
ways. 

The annual appropriation on account of the principal 
and interest of the public debt has, during the last six 
years, amounted to eight millions of dollars. After the 
present year, or, at furthest, after the ensuing year, the 
*um which, on account of the irredeemable nature of the 
remaining debt, may be applied to that object cannot, 
iu any one year, exceed 4,600,000 dollars, leaving, 







67 


therefore, from that source alone, an annual surplus of 
3,400 000 dollars, applicable to any other object. 

From tlie first of January, 1801, to the first of Janua¬ 
ry, 1809, a period of eight years, the United States shall 
have discharged about thirty-four millions of the princi¬ 
pal of the oi l debt, or deducting the Louisiana dent, in¬ 
curred durin £ the same period and not yet discharged, 
about twenty-three millions of dollars. They may with 
equal facility appiv, in a period of ten years, a sum of 
twenty millions of dollars to internal imp ovements. 

The annual permanent revenue of the United States, 
calculated on a state ot general peace, and on the most 
moderate esti aate, was, in a report mule to Congress 
on the sixth d ty of December, 1305 computed for the 
years 1809—«18t>, at 14 millions of dollars. The an¬ 
nual expenses on the peace establishment, and inclu¬ 
ding the lour millions six hundred thousand dollars on 
account of the debt, and four hundred thousand dollar® 
for contingencies, do not exceed eight millions and a 
half, leaving an annual surplus of five millions and a 
half of dollars. To provide for the protection and de¬ 
fence of the country is undoubtedly the object to which 
the resources of the United States must, in the first in¬ 
stance, be app>ied, and to the exclusion of all others, if 
the times shall require it. But it is believed that in 
times of peace—and to such period only are these re¬ 
marks applicable—the surplus will be amply sufficient 
to defray the expenses of all the preparatory measures 
of a permanent nature which prudence may suggest, 
and to pay the sum destined for internal improvements. 
Three millions annually applied during the same period 
of ten years, would arm every man in the United States, 
fill the public arsenals and magazines, erect every bat¬ 
tery and fortification which could be manned, and even 
if thought eligible build a navy. That the whole snr- 
plus would be inadequate to the support of any conside¬ 
rable increase of the land or naval force, kept in actual 
service in time of peace, will be readily admitted. But 
such a system is not cotetemplated ; if ever adopted, the 
objects of this report must probably be abandoned. For 


A 

* 


68 


xt has not heretofore been found an easy task for any 
government to indulge in that species of expenses 
which, leaving no trace behind it, adds nothing to the 
real strength of the country, and at the same time to 
provide for either its permanent defence or improve¬ 
ment. 

It must not be omitted that the facility of communi¬ 
cations constitutes, particularly in the United States, an 
important branch of natioaal defence. Their extensive 
territory opposes a powei ful obstacle to the progress of 
an enemy. But, on the other hand, the number of re¬ 
gular forces which may be raised, necessarily limited 
by the population, will for many years be inconsiderable 
when compared with that extent of territory. That de¬ 
lect cannot otherwise be supplied than bv those great 
national improvements, which will afford the means of 
a rapid concentration of that regular force, and of a for¬ 
midable bedy of militia on any given point. 

Amongst the resources of the Union, there is one, 
which, from its nature, seems more particularly appli¬ 
cable to the internal improvements. Exclusively of 
Louisiana, the general government possesses, in trust 
for the people of the United States, about one hundred 
millions of acres fit for cultivation, north of the river 
Ohio ; and near fifty millions south of the State of Ten¬ 
nessee. For the disposition of those lands a plan has 
been adopt xl, calculated to enable every industrious ci¬ 
tizen to become a freeholder, to secure indisputable ti¬ 
tles to the purchasers, to obtain a national revenue, ar.d, 
above all, to suppress monopoly, its success has sur¬ 
passed that of every former attempt, and exceeded the 
expectations of its authors. But a higher price than 
had usually been paid for waste lands by the first inhabi¬ 
tants of the frontier became an unavoidable ingredient of 
a system intended for general benefit, and was necessa¬ 
ry, in order to prevent the public lands being engrossed 
by individuals, possessing greater wealth, activity, or 
local advantages. It is believed that nothing could be 
moie gratifying to the purchasers, and to the inhabitants 
of the western States generally, or better calculated to 


69 


remove popular objections, and to defeat insidious ef¬ 
forts, titan the application of the proceeds of the sales 
to improvements, conferring general advantages on the 
nation, and an immediate be. e fit on the purchasers, and 
inhabitants themselves. It maybe added, that the Uni¬ 
ted States considered merely as owners of the soil, are 
also deeply interested in the opening of those communi¬ 
cations, which must necessarily enhance the value of 
their property. Thus the opening of an inland naviga¬ 
tion, from tide water to the great lakes, would imme¬ 
diately give to the great body of lands, bordering on those 
lakes as great value, as if they were situated at the dis¬ 
tance of one hundred miles by lands, from the sea coast. 
And if the proceeds of the first ten millions of acres, 
'which may be sold, were applied to such improvements, 
the United States would be amply repaid, in the sale of 
the other ninety millions. 

The annual appropriation of two millions of dollars, 
drawn from the general revenues of the Union, which 
has been suggested, could operate to its lull extent, on¬ 
ly in times of peace, and under prosperous circumstan¬ 
ces. The application of the proceeds of the sales of 
the public lands might, perhaps, be rpade permanent 
until it had amounted to a certain sum, and until the 
most important improvements had been effected. The 
fund created by those improvements, the expense of 
which has been estimated at twenty millions of dollars, 
would afterwards become itself a perpetual resource for 
further improvements. Although some of those first 
communications should not become immediately pro¬ 
ductive, and although the same liberal policy, which 
dictated the measure, would consider them less as ob¬ 
jects of revenue to government, than of increased wealth, 
and general convenience to the nation, yet they would 
all sooner or later acquire, as productive property, their 
par value. Whenever that had taken place in relation 
to any of them, the stock might be sold to individuals or 
companies, and the proceeds applied to a new improve¬ 
ment. And by persevering in that plan, a succession 
©I improvement* would be effected, until every portion 


70 


of the United States, should enjoy all the advantages of 
inland navigation and improved roads, of which it was 
susceptible. To effect that great object, a disburse¬ 
ment of twenty millions of dollars, applied with more or 
less rapidity, according to the circumstances of the Uni- 
nited States, would be amply sufficient. 

The manner in which the public moneys may be ap¬ 
plied to such objects, remains to be considered. 

It is evident that the United States cannot, under the 
constitution, open any road or canal, without the consent 
of the State through which such road or canal must pass. 
In order therefore to remove every impediment to a na¬ 
tional plan of internal improvements, an amendment 
to the constitution was suggested by the executive, when 
the subject was recommended to the consideration of 
congress. Until this be obtained, the assent of the 
states being necessary for each improvement, the modi¬ 
fications under which that assent may be given will ne¬ 
cessarily control the manner of applying the money. It 
may be however observed, that, in relation to the speci¬ 
fic improvements which have been suggested, there is 
hardly any which is not either already authorized by the 
States respectively, or so immediately beneficial to them 
as to render it highly probable, that no material difficul¬ 
ty will be experienced in that respect. 

The moneys may be applied in two different manners. 
The United States may, with the assent of the States, 
undertake some of the works at their sole expense, or 
they may subscribe a certain number of shares, of the 
stock of companies incorporated for the purpose. Loans 
might also in some instances be made to such compa¬ 
nies. The first mode would, perhaps, by effectually 
controiing local interests, give the most proper general 
direction to the woik. Its details would probably be 
executed on a more economical plan by private compa¬ 
nies. Both inodes mav perhaps be blended together, 
so as to obtain tne advantages pertaining to each. But 
the modifications of which the plan is susceptible, must 
vary according to the nature of the work, and of the 
charters, and seem to belong to that class of details* 


71 


which are not the immediate subject of consideration. 

At present, the only work undertaken by the United 
States, at their sole expense, and to which the assent 
of the States has been obtained, is the road, from Cum¬ 
berland to Brownsville. An appropriation may for that 
purpose be made at any time. In relation to all other 
works, the United States have nothing at this time in 
their power, but to assist those already authorized ; ei¬ 
ther by loans, or by becoming stock-holders ; and the 
last mode appears the most eligible. The only compa¬ 
nies incorporated for effecting some of the improve¬ 
ments considered in this report, as of national and first 
rate importance, which have applied for such assistance, 
are the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, the Susque- 
hannah Canal, and the Dismal Swamp Companies; and 
authority might be given to subscribe a certain number 
of shares to each, on condition, that the plan of the work 
to be executed should be approved by the general gov¬ 
ernment. A subscription to the Ohio canal, to the 
Pittsburgh road, and perhaps to some other objects not 
fully ascertained, is also practicable at this time. 

As an important basis of the general system, an im¬ 
mediate authority might also be given to take the sur¬ 
veys and levels of the routes of the most important roads 
and canals which are contemplated; a work always use¬ 
ful, and by which the practicability and expense of the 
undertakings would be ascertained with much more cor¬ 
rectness than in this report. A moderate appropria¬ 
tion would be sufficient for those several objects. 

In the selection of the objects submitted in obedience 
to the order of the Senate as claiming in the first in¬ 
stance the aid of the general governmement, general 
principles have been adhered to as best calculated to 
suppress every bias of partiality to particular objects.— 
Yet some such bias, of which r,o individual is perfectly 
free, may, without being felt have operated on this re¬ 
port. The national legislature alone, embracing eve 
local interest, and superior* to every local considerate 
is competent to the selection of such national objec 
The materials contained in the papers herewith trai 




72 


/nitted, and the information to be derived from survey* 
'taken under the authority of the general government, 
will furnish the facts necessary for a correct decision.— 
Two communications by Mr* B. H. Latrobe, and by 
Mr. Robert Fulton, marked E, and F, are in the mean¬ 
while resp ctfully referred to, as containing much inte¬ 
resting practical information, connected with observa¬ 
tions of a general nature on the subject. 

All which is respectfully submitted. 

ALBERT GALLATIN, 
Secretary qf the Treasury* 

Treasury Department, 

4-th April , 1808. 








/ 


73 


Mr. Latrobe’s Communication. 



Washington , March 16, 1808. 


SIR 


I have the honour of your letter of the 29th of 
July, 1807, transmitting to me a copy of the resolution 
of the Senate of the United States of the 2d of March, 
1807, together with a list of queries respecting artificial 
navigations and canals, to which you request my answer 
and opinion. 

~ In order to give you all the information on this sub¬ 
ject which you wish and I possess, and in the most con¬ 
densed form, I ask your permission to depart from the 
order which your questions demand, and aftei treating 
the subject generally, to enter upon an account of those 
works, in detail, with which my personal experience has 
made me more particularly acquainted. 

The most striking circumstance in a view of the At¬ 
lantic States of the Union, in relation to the improve¬ 
ment of their internal navigation, is the uniformity of the 
natural arrangement of the rivers and mountains, and 
that this arrangement differs from that of every other 
country in which artificial navigation has been attemp¬ 
ted. 

In other countries, the general course of all the riv¬ 
ers, is between the mountains, and along the valleys ; 
in this, the general course of all the rivers is across that 
of the mountains and of the valleys.—Our mountains, 
from their termination to the south-west, in Georgia, 
hold a course to the east of north. The general direction 
of our principal rivers is to the east of south ; and on in¬ 
spection of the map it will be observed that, as the direc¬ 
tion of the mountains to the north east of the Delaware 
becomes more easterly, so do our rivers acquire a mor? 




southern course, always crossing the mountains at near¬ 
ly the same angle. 

Our rivers may be divided into three classes : Prima¬ 
ry rivers , that discharge their waters immediately into 
the ocean Of these the relative magnitude might be 
rated according to the surface they respectively drain. 
Secondary rivers , or such as fall into the first,, above their 
tide water; and Creeks , properly so called, which rise 
below the falls of the first rivers, or rather collect the 
water of the level land, below the falls, >.nd discharge it 
into the tide waters. 

Of our primary rivers, the Susquehannah is the prin¬ 
cipal. By a great degree of geographical injustice, 
this mighty river loses its name at the foot of its falls, 
and is called the Chesapeake Bay, from thence to the 
ocean ; although its width, compared with its length, 
forbids the term of bay to be applied to what is called 
the Chesapeake. All of these rivers cross, in the great¬ 
est part of their course, the direction of the mountains. 

Of the secondary rivers, many of which are of great 
importance and magnitude, some, and perhaps the 
greatest number, hold a course parallel to the moun¬ 
tains ; as the Shenandoah, the Conogocheugue, the Le¬ 
high, See. draining the valleys and receiving away the 
torrents of the mountains. 

The third order of our water courses rise either in 
the lowest ridge of our hills, which I will call the gra¬ 
nite lidge, and over which all our principal rivers, from 
Georgia to the Hudson, fall, and then run through the 
alluvial country which lies between the granite ridge and 
the ocean. Such rivers are, the Nottaway, the Black- 
waler, the Meherrin. the Airacosta, (eastern branch of 
Potent ack,) the Elk River, and the very important creek 
in the State of Delaware, the Christiana; or they are 
merely drains of the alluvial country, assuming an ap¬ 
pearance of importance below the head of the tide, above 
which they are mere torrents, almost dry in the autumn. 
Such streams are all the rivers of the eastern shore of 
the Chesapeake, and 6t the lower part of the Jerseys, 
and innumerable watercourses, forming large sestuaries 
in the southern, states. 


Our v north-western lakes, from their first source 
to the eastern end of Li ke Erie, may be considered as 
pu’tof the great river St, Lawrence, following the di¬ 
rection of the rest of our l i vers, until opposed by the 
northern extremity of the Alleghany. From thence its 
course follows the valley west of the Alleghany through 
lake Ontario to the ocean, receiving the waters of the 
northern extremity of the mountain in its course. 

This general view of the construction of cur country 
was necessary, in order to understand the general prin¬ 
ciples on which our artificial navigation can be so con¬ 
ducted as to be useful or even practicable, and to ex¬ 
plain why connexions of waters which, on the map ap¬ 
pear advantageous and feasible, would be useless, and 
perhaps Impracticable by any effort of art. 

Two principal objects will dictate all the exertioRS 
toward the improvement of our internal navigation, 
which can, for many years to come, he attempted ; i. 
To carry our produce by water to the nearest port for its 
exportation, and the importation of foreign articles ; 2. 
To exchange, by internal commerce, the articles recip¬ 
rocally deficient on lines parallel to the sea-coast. Ca¬ 
nals, the use of which arises from manufacturing activi¬ 
ty, will not probably be soon required. 

The first object, as all our principal rivers run sea¬ 
ward, and generally by the shortest course, must be at¬ 
tained by the natural or improved navigation of the ri¬ 
vers themselves, or by canals cut parallel to them ; the 
second, may often require a navigation parallel to the 
valleys, so as to communicate one principal river with 
another. 

The former attempt nt improved navigation has al¬ 
ready been made on many of our principal rivers; the 
latter has been seldomer undertaken ; and only once a- 
bove the falls of both primary rivers, in the canal intend¬ 
ed to join the Susquehannah and Schuylkill, and the 
Schuylkill and Delaware RiverS, aboye Philadelphia. 

The general construction of our country opposes to 
artificial navigation, in either of these directions, diffi¬ 
culties which in no part of the world exist in so uniform 


76 


and certain a degree. Canals parallel to our rivers hare 
three formidable obstacles to encounter and overcome. 

1. The rapid descent of the ravine cut through the 
mountains by the river itself, <lcng which the canal 
must be carried ; or if the ravine be quitted, difficulties 
©n the high levels which, the further you go from the 
river, are always intersected by the more numerous ra¬ 
vines, and embarrassed by the difficulty of returning to 
the ravine of the river. 

2. The invariably rocky nature of the ground, which 
is uniformly of granite in all its varieties ; and the nu¬ 
merous fissures which carry off the water, and require 
lining. 

3. The difficulty of keeping off the land water, 
and of crossing the lateral branches and torrents of 
the river. 

On the other hand, canals parallel to eur mountains, 
must necessarily cross the ridge or spur of the moun¬ 
tain which divides the waters of two primary rivers.— 
On this ridge above the hills, the water requisite to sup¬ 
ply the canal is always scanty—often there is none ; and 
though a tunnel, or a steam-engine, or, in the last resort, 
a rail road, aie certain means of obviating the difficulty, 
they are expensive, inconvenient, and imperfect. Be¬ 
low the granite ridge the difficulty is less. There may 
always be found a supply of water from the ridge itself, 
and the feeders, though carried through rocky and ex¬ 
pensive ground, are themselves useful as small canals, 
as far as they extend ; and besides, below the ridge the 
soil is easily cut and embanked. 

Having so frequently mentioned the granite ridge, I 
will here trace its extent as far as my knowledge of our 
country enables me to do it. 

The granite ridge forms the shore of the north side of 
Long Island, opposite to the island of New-York. All 
the south of the island is alluvial, and is the first margin 
of alluvial soil below the granite ridge. This margin of 
alluvial soil beginning at Long-Island widens as it ex¬ 
tends to the south-west, until in Georgia it become# 
more than 200 miles in width. 


77 


Staten*island and Bergen Point are two spurs of the 
same ridge, which continues nearly in the line of the 
post-road to Trenton, where the river Delaware falls o- 
ver it, having worn down the rocks more deeply there 
than in many other of our rivers. The Delaware runs 
in its general direction for 60 miles under the foot of 
the ridge as far as New-castle, leaving it only for a short 
distance at particular bends of the river. At Philadel¬ 
phia the ridge crosses the Peninsula to Gray’s Ferry on 
Schuylkill. The softer granite of Schuylkill has been 
worn down so as that the falls are four miles from its low¬ 
er edge. From Philadelphia the ridge runs with the post 
road to Havre de Grace, where 'it is visible on both 
shores, although the tides extend 6 miles above, to the 
foot of the falls. 

The Susquehannah, by the name of the Chesapeake, 
may be considered as running under the foot of the 
granite ridge, almost as far as Baltimore, which city is 
built upon the foot of the ridge. At the river Patux¬ 
ent, e,o the post-road, the ridge appears again, but is 
lost under the incumbent soil, and is not again visible 
until it appears at Georgetown. The harder granite of 
the Potomack has resisted the force of the water more 
than the granite further to the north east, and the tide 
reaches only three miles above its outrunnings. From 
the Potomack the falls of Rappahannock at Fre'dei ick:>- 
burgh, of James River at Richmond* Appomattox at 
Petersburgh, Roanoke at Halifax, beyond which point 
my personal observation does not extend, point out the 
course of this ridge in a line nearly parallel to the Blue 
Ridge, diverging to the eastward as it extends south¬ 
ward. 


I. Of the improvement oj the natural navigation of Gin- 
rivers leading to the sea } and the canals cut fcavalUd 
to them. 


The natural difficulties of the navigation of our lire* 

o 

are—-in the spring, the danger of wreck in the wiki >v,v 

Gg 2 


78 


ter of our rapicls ; in autumn the obstructions created 
by rocky shoals,—and, in most of them, rapids and falls, 
impracticable at all times. The least expensive and 
most obvious means of removing the former are the 
blowing the most prominent rocks so as to straiten the 
channel, and procure a passage at low water.—This has 
in almost all our rivers been attempted on a greater or 
less scale, and with various degrees of success. When 
injudiciously performed, and in rivers of rapid descent, 
and liable to great variation in the quantity of their wa¬ 
ter, more injury has been done than advantage obtained. 
Many of our worst obstructions act as natural dams, 
which holding up the water, create a large extent of ex¬ 
cellent navigation above them. Of this the James Ri¬ 
ver above Westham, and the Susquehannah above 
Chickisalunga and Hunter’s Falls are instances in point. 
Such obstructions when removed, let down the water 
rapidly from above, without supplying deeper navigation 
below. 

In a river of much magnitude, as the Susquehannah, 
indeed no gap or »luice artificially cut can materially af¬ 
fect the rapidity of the stream, but in lesser rivers great 
care is required, not only to prevent lowering the water 
above, but to avoid giving a new direction to the current 
more mischievous in its effects than that which has 
been changed. But with whatever judgment the natu¬ 
ral navigation of a river perplexed by rapids and shoals 
may be conducted, and however its descent may be there¬ 
by facilitated, its descent cannot possibly be rendered 
more easy, in the same degree. Thus, for instance, al¬ 
though by the moneys expended by the State of Penn¬ 
sylvania and the Susquehannah canal company on the 
natural navigation of the Susquehannah below Wright’s 
ferry, it has been rendered much less dangerous to run 
down the distance of 41 miles, almost the whole of 
which is a tremendous rapid, from Columbia to the tide 
and thereby to carry lumber, iron, and agricultural pro¬ 
duce to Havre de Grace, and thence to Baltimore,—yet 
so difficult is the upstream navigation by the same route, 
even with the assistance of the Susquehannah-canaL 


79 


that the returns in imported articles have been general¬ 
ly purchased in Philadelphia and conveyed to Columbia 
or Middletown above the rapids, by the Lancaster turn¬ 
pike, thence to be boated to the country watered by the 
upper branches of the Susquehannah. And although the 
Philadelphia market has hitherto offered more advan¬ 
tages to the buyers of imported goods than thatol Balti¬ 
more, yet the expense of transporting them 72 miles by 
land to Columbia, would, if there we re a good naviga¬ 
tion from Havre de Grace upwards, destroy this advan¬ 
tage 

The difficulty of carrying canals parallel to our great 
rivers, the scarcity of engineers possessing knowledge 
and integrity, the viant of capital, and above all the erro¬ 
neous dread of bold measures, and the fear of uselessly 
expending money on works hitherto unknown among 
us, has deterred those interested in improving our navi¬ 
gation, from deserting the beds of our rivers, while it 
was practicable to keep them.—They have therefore 
had recourse to canals, only where navigation was other¬ 
wise impossible—where obstructed by rocks, or broken 
by a cascade. 

There cannot, however, be a reasonable doubt that, if 
in England, where, compared with the United States, 
the quantity of water in the rivers varies little netween 
the driest and the wettest period of the year, a canal 
running parallel to a river, furnishes a much more cer¬ 
tain and safe, and equal, and cheap navigation than the 
river itself, it is infinitely more the case here. Unfor¬ 
tunately those of our canals which have been cut to pass 
the rapids and falls of our rivers, partake, in a great 
measure, of the inconveniences of .the rivers them¬ 
selves: some wanting water, when the river is low ; 
some incapable of being entered, excepting at a particu¬ 
lar height of the water in the river ; some subject to 
constant accumulation of bars ; and all, of those with 
which I am acquainted, much less useful than the mo¬ 
ney expended on them ought to have made them. 

Those canals of which I now particularly speak are, 
the James-Rirer Ganal, the Potomack Canal, the Cone- 
wago and Susquehannah Canals. Of the canals nort.b 


80 


of the Delaware and south of Virginia, I have not suf¬ 
ficient knowledge ; nor can I speak of the Appomat¬ 
tox Can tl. It is, I believe, not liable to the same stric¬ 
tures in all points which 1 shall make upon the others ; 
but though I am well acquainted with the ground, I 
have not seen the manner in which the work has been 
executed. 

One great and fatal error has been interwoven into 
the scheme of the other canals, excepting only that of 
the Potomack. They have been dug as much with a 
view to the erection of mills as to the purposes of na¬ 
vigation. To fit them for mill races, their descent is 
rapid and their current strong. They are liable of 
course to the variation of the quantity of water in the 
river; they biing down with their current the alluvium 
of the river; bars are formed in them, as well by this 
alluvium as by the land-wash ; and their banks, where 
they are not of rock, or walled, are liable to perpetual 
wear by the current. The canal is, besides, itself an 
inconvenient rapid to those who would ascend it. 

Besides these inconveniences, the contracts binding 
the company to furnish to the millers the water when 
it rises above a certain gageselle, for an annual rent, or 
on other fixed and permanent terms, binds the canal 
company to the original construction of the work and 
forbids future improvement. For instance, t if a lock 
were found to be useful above the highest mill it could 
not be erected, because it would rob the mills below of 
their stipulated water ; the inclination of the canal can¬ 
not be lessened, because it would have the same effect. 
In the James River Canal, more than in any other 
which 1 have seen, this error, though new generally 
considered us a very great advantage, will in some fu¬ 
ture period be discovered and deplored. The Poto¬ 
mack Canal, more especially that of the Little Falls, 
has the same effect, of a too rapid descent, although 
the object of a mill race is placed by their charter out 
of view. But its principal defect is of another kind ; 
to which that of James River is also, but in a less de¬ 
gree, subject. It receives the wash of all the hills and 


81 


ravines of the north bank ; which ought to be discharg¬ 
ed through culverts or carried over bridges ; and that 
legislative impartiality which has required the canal to 
enter the river at the very head of the tide, in order that 
Virginia might have an equal chance of becoming the 
depot of its commerce with Maryland, has very much 
injured its utility to the country at large. 

In a still greater degree than the Potomack Canal, 
the Susquehannah Canal, beginning at the Maryland 
and Pennsylvania line, and ending at the head of the 
tide, has the defect not only of receiving the land-wash 
of the hills and ravines, but also two considerable rivers, 
the Conewingo and Octorara, partaking thus of all the 
danger arising from their inundations, and receiving 
their alluvium. This canal is also applied to the pur¬ 
poses of a mill race. Other inconveniences attend it 
which arise from the most unfriendly nature of the ri¬ 
ver, and the local feelings of the State legislatures of 
Pennsylvania and Maryland, at the period of the incor¬ 
poration of the company. 

The Conewago Canal, about 150 miles higher up th« 
Susquehannah, is also a mill race, and is the property 
of an individual. It is of difficult entrance, which is to 
be regretted, as it ought to be the means of passing a 
short but very dangerous fall of the river, interrupting 
a long extent of very good navigation. 

Having thus pointed ©ut the general and common de¬ 
fects of these canals, to which I may add, the general 
want of proper slopes to their banks, I will now enter 
upon the very thankless task of giving an honest opinion 
respecting them in detail, viewing only the fiublic inter¬ 
est ; and perfectly conscious of the bearing of what I 
shall say upon private feelings. These feelings how¬ 
ever are extremely short-sighted, for nothing could be 
more advantageous to the individuals most interested, 
than those measures which would most benefit the pub¬ 
lic. 

The James River and Appomattox canals stop short 
of tide water. The most important of these canals is 
that of James River. Upon the coal mines of James 


82 


River our Atlantic sea-ports will soon become depen¬ 
dent for their chief supply of fuel. That dependence 
exists already, in respect to the fuel required for a va¬ 
riety of manufactures, and even the smiths within 10 
irdles of our sea-ports require, already, in order to car¬ 
ry on advantageous business, a supply of Virginia coal. 
There are three means (and 1 think only three) by 
which the Virginia coal can be brought to the tide, i . 
By a small canal and rail roads immediately from the 
mines south of the river to the shipping tide water, at 
Ampthill, or its neighbourhood, along the valley of 
Falls Creek ; distance, 1 believe, 20 miles. This is a 
route easily practicable, and at a moderate expense, for 
Falls Creek uses in the coal mires themselves. 2. By 
the turnpike road to Manchester, opposite Richmond. 
This road has been some lime, completed, and is of the 
highest utility. 3. By James River to the head of the 
falls, and thence by the canal to Richmond. This is, 
for two thirds of the coa! country, the best ancl most 
obvious route. For from all the mines the coal m y 
easily be brought to the river on rail roads, and thence 
boated, independently of the cheaper conveyance which 
Tuckahoe Creek might be made to yield to a great ex¬ 
tent of coal land now little worked. But of what ade¬ 
quate use is this navigation in boats carrying, at an aver¬ 
age. 200 bushels of coal only, when, if the canal were 
well constructed, 1,000 bushels might be as easily and 
cheaply conveyed ; and when, on their arrival in Rich¬ 
mond they must be unloaded, again loaded into carts, 
and carried down, by a bad road, to the tide at Rockets, 
to be shipped? The Manchester turnpike, with all its 
expense of wagons, horses, and drivers, and the conse¬ 
quent waste of labour , capital, food, and forage, is a bet¬ 
ter, and I am told, as cheap a mode of conveyance. 

The means by which the canal itself may be made 
much more useful, I will not consume your time and 
patience in detailing: what is most important, taking 
the whole subject into view, is to connect the canal, such 
as it is, with the tic e. 


* 


8S 

In the year 1796 Mr. Weston, then engineer to the 
western navigation companies of the State of New- 
York, was called to Richmond to give his advice and 
opinion on this subject. It amounted to this; to con¬ 
nect the basin with the foot of the falls, by a succession 
oi ten or eleven locks in one tier, carrying the race of 
Ross’s mill upon an aqueduct across the canal, at the 
foot of the locks. Witn all deference to his talents, 1 
cannot he,p remarking, tffiu of all expensive projects 
of which I ever heard, this would have been one of the 
most useless. For, independently of the excessive in¬ 
convenience and detention which such a tier of locks at 
the most busy part of a navigation would occasion the 
boats would arrive at their foot, in a very considerable 
rapid, now impracticable, and which could opiy be made 
practicable by blowing up the rocky bed of the river. 
When arrived there, two miles of tide water must be 
encountered ; to navigate which these boats are wholly 
unfit. I cannot help thinking that the present mode of 
conveying the coal to Rockets is not much less eligible. 
I refrain from stating many other objections, which are 
professional, and which I believe were, well as those 
already mentioned, as evident to Mr. Weston as to my¬ 
self ; but objections of another nature, more powerful 
than mere physical difficulties, opposed every project 
excepting that which he proposed. 

In order to connect the basin of the James River ca¬ 
nal with the tide, a very simple means is offered by the 
nature of t e ground. To do - his it will be necessary 
to form a c ipaeious basin at Rockets, communicating 
with the t : tie by one or more locks. To carry a canal 
from thence along the level bank of James River to 
Shockoe Creek. A cheap aqueduct of one arch of 30 
ffeet span will carry the work across the creek into the 
back street. The canal will then go up the back street, 
mounting by successive locks, not more than two in 
each tier, into the basin. The canal, from Rockets to 
the basin on Shockoe Hill, should be of 9 feet draft of 
water, and the locks 109 feet long, and 18 feet wide. 
This canal would, of course, bring vessels which navi- 


84 


•^ate our coasts and bays, and run out to the West-India 
Islands, into the basin on Shockoe Hill. 

The legislature of the State of Virginia (for the com¬ 
monwealth is deeply interested in the stock) had from 
time to time expressed great anxiety on the subject of 
completing this canal. But the dread of unforeseen 
difficulties and risks in carrying the work below the ba¬ 
sin, and the value and productiveness of the stock in its 
present state, have hitherto overbalanced this anxiety. 
But considering Richmond as the principal source of 
fuel to the cities on our sea-coast, at least until the 
mines of Cape Breton shall supply us, I feel a national 
sentiment in deeply regretting the very fatal policy 
which maintains and supports the error and the mutila¬ 
tion of this most important work. I will not, at the 
same lime deny, that when it is considered that those 
who projected and have executed the canal were men 
of no acquaintance either with general science, or with 
this particular branch of art, and knew nothing of canals 
but ft cm books or hearsay, they have already clone won¬ 
ders. 1 hey deserve the thanks of their State, and of 
the Union. But the work should not stop where they 
have left it. Nature has perhaps done for Richmond 
more than for any other site where a city has been plan¬ 
ted. For ten miles above the city, on both sides, and 
upon several islands of the stream there are innumera¬ 
ble mill-seats, supplied with water by one of the noblest 
rivers in the Union. Immediateiy above the head of 
the falls lies an inexhaustible treasure of coal. Every 
art and manufacture to which human ingenuity can 
employ fire'and water, maybe here cariied on with the 
least expense. From above, an easy and wide-spread¬ 
ing navigation collects on this spot all the raw materials 
which our climate can produce ; below, a river capable 
of bearing sea vessels sufficient for every trade, but that 
across the ocean, is ready for the exportation of its mer¬ 
chandise. The town itself is placed on healthy and 
commanding ground. But to improve these advantages 
to the utmost extent to which our population is equal, 
nothing would so much contribute as the completion of 
the Richmond canal. 


I have dwelt specially on the coal trade to which this 
eaoal is subservient, as of first rate national importance. 
It is of no less importance to the State of Virginia as a 
means of conveyance of agricultural produce. As you 
wiil ieceive answers in detail to your queries relative to 
the amount of all the sorts of produce carried upon it, 
and of i s actual trade, I will not add any thing further 
to woat I have already said on the subject, but to ob¬ 
serve, that at some distant period the Ciiickahominy, a 
river rising in the coal country and discharging itself in¬ 
to James River 30* miles below Richmond, where ships 
may take in their cargoes, offers a means of carrying 
down the coal destined for distant exportation. 

A canal has often been projected for passing the falis^ 
of the Rappahannock at Fredericksburgh. There is 
no reasonable hope, however, that this work can soon 
be executed. The ravine of the river at the falls, on 
either side, is so abt upt, rocky, and irregular, that very 
great expense must be incurred to effect it; an ex¬ 
pense not likely to be repaid by its trade for many 
years. 

A canal to connect the Rappahannock with the Poto- 
mack, a few miles below Fredericksburgh, across the 
northern neck, has also been spoken of. It would be a 
highly useful work, but would require a tunnel of two 
or three miles. I believe it could be executed at an 
expense not greater th3n the tolls would remunerate. 
Such a canal, however, does not belong to the class of 
which I am now speaking. 

The Potomack canal consists of two parts—one to 
pass the Great Falls, fourteen miles above Georgetown, 
the other to pass the Little Falls. The errors commit¬ 
ted in the construction of the work have been enume¬ 
rated above. The trade of this canal, especially during 
the year 1807, has been so gieat, that there appears 
every prospect of its becoming a productive work, in 
those years in which there is a considerable and equal 
quantity of water in the river. Rut upon this (ircuin¬ 
stance it must always depend. The information re¬ 
specting it, which can be obtained from the company, 

Hh 


on the spot, renders it unnecessary for me to sav more 
upon it. 

No attempt at the improvement of the navigation of 
any of the rivers of Maryland between the Susqueban- 
nah and the Potomack, has been made nor is there in 
the prospects of advantage to be derived from the na¬ 
vigation of the two Patuxents, the Patapsco, or the less¬ 
er rivers falling into the Chesapeake, any thing which 
could at present tempt capital into such undertakings. 

But the Susquehannah itself has been for many years 
the object of almost all the attention directed in the 
States of Maryland, and Pennsylvania, to the improve¬ 
ment of our internal navigation. About six miles above 
H avre de Grace, this mighty river meets the tide. The 
place is now known by the name of Smith’s Ferry. The 
map of the river, from thence up to Wright’s Ferry, 
fColumbia,) Pennsylvania, which I made in the year 
1801 , when directing the works carried on for the im¬ 
provement of the natural bed of the river, and which by 
favour of the governor of Pennsylvania, I am able to 
exhibit with this memoir, will explain the nature of this 
part of the river very minutely, being drawn to a very 
large scale. The whole of this extent, is one tremen¬ 
dous rapid, which in fact continues to the north-west 
side of the Chickalunga Hills, three miles above Co¬ 
lumbia. The rapid is not every where ofequal veloci¬ 
ty, or equally dangerous. Wherever the liver crosses 
a valley of limestone, or si. te, the rocks are worn down 
into a smoother and wider bed ; but when it has to cross 
a ridge of granite its course is immediately broken by 
irregular masses and range of rocks ; its bed is narrow 
and e nclosed by precipices, and its torrent furious and 
winding. 

The Chickisalunga Falls, can be descended without 
danger and no attempt to open them has been thought 
necessaiy. The ridge of grknite hills, through which 
they break, bounds on the north-west, the beautiful 
Limestone Valley of Columbia, across this valley the 
river luns rapidly but smoothly. Another narrow ridge 
ol granite hills, crosses the river immediately below 


87 


Columbia, over which the river falls rapidly, and then 
enters the wider limestone valley, known by the name 
of the Jochara Valley. The river spreads here to the 
width of three mile*, its stream is gentle, though rap¬ 
id, and it bounds in beautiful and fertile islands. It 
then suddenly contracts, and is received into the narrow 
ravine, which it has sawed ddwn in the granite hill, call¬ 
ed Turkey Hill. From its first entrance into the fur- 
key Hill, to the tide, there is no part that deserves the 
name of a sheet of smooth water. When the river is 
full, the whole ravine about half a mile in width, con¬ 
tains only one furious torrent, in which few rocks com- 
paratively are to be seen above the water ; but the dan¬ 
ger is not the less, and very skilful pilots, and many, and 
stout hands are required to carry a.boat or an ark safely 
down. But in the autumn, and in a dry season, the ri¬ 
ver itself can for six miles scarcely be seen, and its bed 
appears a barren and dry waste of irregular rocks, 
among which, the loud roaring of water is only heard ; 
for, from the Turkey Hill, to near the mouth of Cones- 
togo, the whole river is discharged through a channel 
generally about 60 feet wide, in the greatest part of 
which, the depth and the rapidity of the torrent is such, 
that it has not been fathomed. About a mile below the 
mouth of Conestogo, a narrow Limestone Valley touch¬ 
es the river on the north-east side, but on the west 
shore, not a trace of Limestone is to be seen. Four 
miles below Burkhalter’s Ferry, the river arrives at the 
high range of Granite Hills, abounding in copper, in 
which the Gap Mine is situated ; and at a place called 
M‘CalFs Ferry, it narrows to the width of 16 perches. 
Here I attempted to find bottom with a line of 180 feet, 
but failed, notwithstanding every precaution taken to 
procure a perpendicular descent of the weight attached 
to it. Through this pass, the water is rapid, but smooth 
and safe. Title river rises here rapidly and very sudden¬ 
ly after the fall of rain above ; and L will never be pos¬ 
sible to erect a safe bridge at this place, so often men¬ 
tioned, as the most practicable. The obstructions to 
navigation, by three rapids below M‘Cails, is not so 


88 


considerable, as to endanger the arks and boats that de¬ 
scend, until they arrive at the Baldfriar Falls, belo\r 
Peachbottom, and about eight miles above the tiue. 
From M‘Call*s to the Slate Valley of Peachbottom, the 
river is filled with islands, called the Bear-Islands. 
Across the valley of Peachbottom, and above the Bald- 
friar Falls, the river is wide and safe. The best natur¬ 
al na\igation, and that always pursued by boats descend¬ 
ing by the natural bed of the river, is on the west side 
from the foot of the Bear-Islands. Above that point to 
Columbia, the best passage is on the east side. The 
most dangerous falls below Peachbottom, were Amos's 
and Hector’s Falls, on which many wrecks occurred, 
until the late improvements of the navigation were 
made. 

From this description, it may easily te imagined, 

that if the descent of the river with boats leaded with 

" produce, was dangerous and difficult, the ascent was 

still more so. The natural obstructions were besides 

increased by fish dams in every part of the river, and 

the rival interests of the States of Pennsylvania and 

* » 

Maryland, prevented for many years every attempt, at 
artificial improvement cf the bed of the river. In the 
mean time, each State took measures to go as far to¬ 
wards rendering the navigation of this river useful to 
their respective interests, as their means and limits 
would permit : and a company was incorporated in 
Maryland, to make a canal from the Maryland line to 
the tide, to pass all the obstructions in the river of the 
eight lowest miles ; and in Pennsylvania, two compa¬ 
nies were also incorporated ; the one to connect the 
Susquehannah with the Schuylkill, by a navigation taken 
out above all the dangerous tails, and the other to con¬ 
nect the Schuylkill with the Delaware. The objects 
of none of these companies were advantageously ac¬ 
complished. The Susquehannah Canal Company have, 
however, completed a navigable canal, liable to the ob¬ 
jections which I have above noticed The Pennsylva¬ 
nia companies have made considerable progress in the 
works, under the direction of a very able engineer, Mr 


83 


Weston ; but have not completed either canal, so as to 
render them at all useful or productive. 

At last, in the year 1801, the States of Maryland and 
Delaware having passed laws incorporating a company 
for the purpose of cutting a canal between the Chesa¬ 
peake and Delaware, a former law of Pennsylvania, ap¬ 
propriating 10,000 dollars to the removal of obstruc¬ 
tions in the Susquehannah, went into effect ; and the 
late colonel Frederick Autes, than whom no man was 
better fittsd to accomplish its object, was charged with 
its execution. But he died on his arrival at the river, 
and the direction devolved upon me. The enclosed 
report to the legislature on this subject, details the ex¬ 
tent of the work executed, and the principles on which 
* I proceeded in the attempt to make a practicable and 
safe navigation both up and down the river. 1 will 
here only repeat that all my exertions were bent to 
force through all obstructions a channel clear of rocks, 
of 40 feet wide, close to the eastern shore, and never 
leaving any rock upon which a vessel could be wrecked, 
between the channel and the shore, so that, in the most 
violent fi esires a boat should always be safe by keeping 
close in shore.—Rocks of immense magnitude were 
therefore blown away in preference to following a 
crooked channel more cheaply made, but more difficult 
and dangerous, and varying in safety and practicabil¬ 
ity, according to the degree of the rise of the liver. 
There is however one part of the navigation in which 
the bed of the river must for ever be pursued; name¬ 
ly, from the Indian steps above M* CalYs, to below the 
gap at M‘Call*s ; a part of the navigation which, if art 
can conquer k, must be undertaken in a state of the 
country infinitely more abounding in wealth and popu¬ 
lation than at present. 

IL Of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal . 

Having now answered that part of your inquiry which 
relates to the general subject of canals, 1 come to the 
particular merits of the Ches«.perke and Delaware o..~ 

an 2 


90 


sial, of which you have requested me to give special in- 
formation ; together with my opinion on its location, 
unbiassed by any interests but those of the public. 

The very able report of the committee to whom 
your letter to the president and directors of the compa¬ 
ny was referred, and who did me the honour to confer 
with me on the subject, conveys to you all the informa¬ 
tion which can he given on the history of the company, 
their pecuniary resources and difficulties, the motives 
that directed their choice in the location of the work, 
and the system tinder which it was begun and pursued. 
Every thing also that can be collected by the most inde¬ 
fatigable inquiry, as to the probable proceeds of the 
canal, and the advantages it offers to those who have 
adventurfed*in it, is also detailed ; and there remains to 
me only the task of giving you that professional infor¬ 
mation, which as engineer to the company I have ob¬ 
tained, and to explain to you the means of executing it, 
as far as they are determined by the nature of the soil 
and the levels of the country. 

The alluvial land lying below that part of the granite 
ridge which crosses the peninsula from the ferry oppo¬ 
site to Havre de Grace, and reaches the shores of the 
Delaware at Wilmington, may be considered as a regu¬ 
lar inclined plane, sloping gradually to the south east, 
at the rate of about six inches in a mile. Immediately 
below the granite ridge, that is, along the foot ot Gray’s 
Hill, Iron Hill, and along the south bank of the Chris¬ 
tiana Creek, which runs parallel to and close under the 
ridge, its highest inequalities seldom exceed 80 feet, 
nor does the common surface fall below 70 feet above 
the tide of Chesapeake at high water. T|iis plane ex¬ 
tends from the granite ridge to the ocean, and the only 
considerable depressions to be found in it, are the beds 
of the land drains, which are worn down into it and pro¬ 
duce the appearance of valleys, but there are no insula¬ 
ted hills whatever, and the valleys are' merely depres¬ 
sions of the ground below the plane. Hence it is evi¬ 
dent, that by going round the h«ads of the water-cour¬ 
ses, a line of canal may be found across the peninsula 


9i 


between any two points on the opposite bays, in which 
the variation of level on the summit will be very small, 
and that by making the bank out of the spoils of the cut, 
a canal may be made at the smallest possible expense of 
digging and removing earth, and at no expense what¬ 
ever for works of masonry, excepting at each end, where 
the descent requires the construction of locks. For by 
following the ridge dividing the waters which drain in¬ 
to opposite creeks, the necessity of culverts and aque¬ 
ducts is wholly avoided. The soil is also of the kind 
most easily cut, being generally a sandy loam, on and 
near the surface, and beds of good clay are found in a- 
bundance for all purposes of puddling. 

The advantage of so level and soft a surface for the cut 
is counterbalanced by the total absence of water to sup¬ 
ply it. This circumstance is very important in deter¬ 
mining the choice of the line of the canal, among so ma¬ 
ny that are equally practicable ; for as all its water must 
be brought from the higher grounds upon the ridge,its 
location ought to be as near to the ridge as possible, in 
order that the feeder may be short, and the leakage and 
evaporation of a long feeder avoided. 1 he location of 
the two ends of the canal does not however, entirely 
depend upon its general course along the summit; and 
a great variety of terminations have been proposed, as 
equally eligible, both on the Chesapeake and Delaware 
side. The former, after long and careful examination, 
has been decided in favour of Welsh Point, where there 
has, within the memory of man, been no diminution in 
the depth of the water, which is below the deposite of 
alluvium from Elk Creek, and where the water is so 
wide and so deep as to furnish a very capacious basin 
for many years to come, for the inconsiderable land wash 
of Back Creek and the small drains in the neighborhood. 
But on the Delaware side much difference of opinion 
has prevailed. The summit level of the canal in every 
case must reach the principal road leading from Chris¬ 
tiana Bridge down the Peninsula, near a tavern called 
the Bear. This pi ce is only two miles distant from 
Hamburgh or Red Hook, on the bay of Newcastle ; and 


92 


a cheap and short cut might be made to either of these 
points, especially to Red Hook, did not two considera¬ 
tions forbid it,—the broad and wild water of the bay, 
and its shallowness at a great distance from the shore, 

' there being only 4 (eet 6 inches at low water. Newcas¬ 
tle is the next eligible point. Newcastle is situated on 
a prominent point, which is swept both by the flood and 
the ebb tide. There wi’l, therefoie, be always deep wa¬ 
ter at the ou/er-wharves and piers at that place, and less 
than 21 feet has not been found on the outside of any of 
the piers lately erected ; or formerly, and ev en at pre¬ 
sent, at the wharves, excepting oniy where the eddv oc¬ 
casioned by the piers has accumulated soft banks of 
mud. 

There could not be a moment’s hesitation in fixing 
the termination of the canal at Newcastle, unless the 
following reasons should be thought to outweigh the 
advantages of the best water in the Delaware, and the. 
shortest navigation across the peninsula, which this 
point offers. It is, in the first place, feared, that in time 
of war, when the canal would be invaluable, as a means 
of conveyance of military stores and bodies of men, an 
enemy’s ship of war might destroy the works at Newcas¬ 
tle in a sudden incursion, and return to sea, before the 
mischief could be prevented. It is further urged, that 
the mouth of the canal on the river below the tide would 
be liable to be filled up in a very short lime, as are ali 
places on the Delaware where there is an eddy. And it 
is also alleged, that Newcastle is situated so far below 
Philadelphia, (33 miles.) that, unless with a favourable 
wind, dull sailing vessels cannot reach Newcastle in one 
tide, when they might reach the mouth of Christiana, 
4 miles higher up the river, and go up the creek with 
the flood. 

The fi st argument appears to me to be deserving of 
consideration in a national point of view, and a small fort 
would be necessary to defend the mouth of the works a- 
gainst an enemy who should attempt to land to blow them 
up. But they could not be injured even by shells beyond 
the destruction of the gates, which a few hours could put 


93 


again in repair. To obviate the srcordobjectionit would 
br necessary to place the tide Iocs: as far out as possible, 
and to cany on! and wharf the side of the canal below 
the lock as far into the river as the most projected wharf. 
The line of the wharves is now limited to six hundred 
feet beyond the lowest street, called Water street, and 
unless f\r ther protruded into the river by a law of the 
State, this dis<; nee presents no formidable difficulty to 
the work, and places the utmost extension of the wharves 
beyond the present time The third objection is not 
without foundation. But the narrow and crooked navi¬ 
gation of Christiana Creek presents infinitely more cau¬ 
ses of delay than the distance of four miles in the bold 
navigation of the Delaware. There is, however, in 
these objections enough to.render it an object of infinite 
importance, both to the nation and to the company, to 
avail themselves of both the eastern terminations of the 
canal, and to m .ke a cut also ft om the Bear to the Chris¬ 
tiana Creek, about three miles above Wilmington, cn 
a line not altogether so favourable, nor so short, as that 
to Newcastle, but presenting no difficulties of impor¬ 
tance whatsoever. From the point, (Mendenhall’s) at 
which the termination is proposed, ten feet may be car¬ 
ried out to tne river Delaware, The objections to this 
termination are, the tedious and very crooked naviga¬ 
tion of the creek for seven miles to the Delaware ; the 
draw-bridge at Wilmington, which must be passed ; 
but more than any'other, the opposition of the tides of 
Delaware and Christiana Creek. For, if a boat conies 
into the canal at Welsh Point, at high water, and passes 
across in six hours, she will find half flood in Christiana, 
and must wait the ebb to go down. On her arrival in 
the Delaware in two and a half or three hours, she will 
have again to wait three or four hours for the fl )Otl to 
proceed to Philadelphia, or up the Brandywine to the 
celebrated mills, the interests of which are well worthy 
of attention. Whereas a vessel, arriving at Newcastle, 
and finding the flaod tide running, which will always 
happen if she comes to Welsh Point with a flood tide, 
may at once proceed up the Delaware or up the Brandy- 


/ 


94 


wine or Christiana Creek, without delay. It must also 
be mentioned, that without a favourable tide it is difficult 
to work down the Christiana Creek against the wind, 
which is always unfavourable in some reach or other of 
its crooked navigation, when, on the contrary, there is 
ample room in the Delaware to use all advantages of 
wind and tide. 

On the other hand it must be urged in favor of Chris¬ 
tiana Creek, that there is navigable water for boats draw¬ 
ing eight feet above tho proposed termination of the 
canal as far as Christiana Bridge, and that the naviga¬ 
tion may be pushed still higher ; that the little town of 
Newport is now the depot of the produce of a very ex¬ 
tensive and fruitful country extending into Lancaster 
county, and is twenty miles nearer to Lancaster than 
Philadelphia ; and that to connect so important a field 
of productive business immediately with the canal, it 
may be worth while to incur an increased expense and 
seme inconvenience and delay in the mere thorough Jare 
navigation ; and it may be added, that the large fixed 
capital of the town of Wilmington, far exceeding that of 
Newcastle, demands from the good policy, as well as 
good w ; !i of the company or the nation, some conside¬ 
ration 

Wjell awai t of the thankless task of giving a decisive 
and honest opinion on either side, I content myself with 
furnishing the materials of determination to you, and 
proceed to describe the nature and principles of the 
work actually executed in the feeder and proposed for 
the canal. 

Between the waters of the Chesapeake and the Dela¬ 
ware there are three streams which, rising in the high 
land above the canal, may be brought down to it as fee¬ 
ders ; the Christiana Creek, the While Clay Creek, and 
the Elk itself. 

The Elk and the White Clay are nearly equal in the 
regular quantity of water they supply ; the Christiana is 
both smaller arid more irregular. The Elk descends m 
a very crooked and rapid stream, eighty-four feet in four 
miles, from Elk Forge to the tide near Elkton, and u- 
nites with the wide waters of the Chesapeake at Turkey 


95 

Point. The ridge that separates its waters from those 
of the Delaware terminates in a high insulated hill, call 
ed Gray’s Hid, which is united to the high land by a 
low and narrow ridge, crossing the post-road on the 
boundary line of Delaware unci Maryland. The Chris¬ 
tiana Creek is the first water lulling from the high land 
into the Delaware. It collects all the waters that fall 
round the high insulated hill called Iron Hill, at the 
north-east foot of which it turns to the north-east, and 
running in that direction under the fool of the granite 
ridge, into the Delaware, receives the White-Clay, 
Red-Clay and Brtndywine in its cuu se, and also nume¬ 
rous land drains from tae level End to the sou - a t. 
Of these three streams it has been ascertained that they 
may all be brought to the canal ; but the Elk with the 
leustexpeiiae and the shortest cut. The valleys in which 
they all run having been worn in deep and rocky land, 
and branching into deep ravines, the be:1s of rapid rivu¬ 
lets offer great difficulties to the work necessary to 
divert their course. In the Elk feeder the canal is cut 
in the rock : for about half a mile embankments are 
made across several valleys ; but the principal difficulty 
and expense consisted in cutting through a tongue of 
high land called Bell-Hill, through which the digging 
is tiiirty feet for near half a mile, and again through 
the dividing ridge, to the depth of twenty-five feetfora- 
bout half that distance ; these two difficulties have been 
conquered Another smaller hill remains to be cut 
through, but it maybe avoided by a circuitous cut, 
much less expensive, but also much less eligible. On 
the Delaware side ofthe ridge the feeder is cut through 
a swampy Hat of more than a mile in length, while the 
descent is only six inches. The general elevation of 
the flat is 86 feet above the tide, and as the head of the 
feeder at Elk Forge is omy 84 feed it could have lutle 
descent, and falls only two incites in a mile. It has on 
this account been made a spacious canal of three feet six 
inches water, twenty-two feet six inches on the surface* 
and twelve feet at the bottom, affording as far as it goes 
a good and valuable inland navigation. The feeder is 
six miles in length i at the end of five miles is a lock. 


96 


tor the passage of boats, and a side cut to communicate 
with the reservoir. A contiguous valley offers the 
means of making a reservoir of more than a hundred 
acres. It has been proposed to embank, thirty acres for 
this purpose. The lock is often feet lift. The reser¬ 
voir will be level with the upper feeder, of course .ten 
leetubove the level of the canal, and under such a head 
will give the canal as plenteous and rapid supply as wan¬ 
ted, Below the lock the feeder is five ket deep, and 
twenty-seven feet on the surface of the water ; it will 
join the canal about a mile west of Aikintown. In the 
construction of the feeder permanence has been a very 
principal consideration. All the culverts are of solid 
masonry ; no land water can run into the cut ; the 
banks are sloped as 2 to 3 ; the embankments are well 
puddled, and the piers of the bridges are of hewn stone. 

From the description which I hare given of the soil 
ef the peninsula, it is evident that the amount of digging 
consu mes the chief expense of the canai. To lessen 
this amount, and to shorten the canal, it is proposed to 
quit the level in three places, and to cross three land 
drains that lead into Christiana Creek, one at Aikintown, 
and twobetween Aikintown and the Bear. Small aque¬ 
ducts and short enbankinents only are necessary to ef¬ 
fect this. If the canal should terminate at Newcastle, 
a narrow marsh must also be crossed ; if at Christiana 
deeper cutting must be encountered. But neither ol 
these difficulties increase the expense of the canal more 
than 7 500 dollars each, beyond th.it of the same length 
of the general cut. 

On all other points the report of the committee fur¬ 
nishes ample information ; and I will only add, that nei¬ 
ther in Europe, nor in our own country, do I know a 
line of inland navigation which, by so short a distance 
and at so easy an expense, unites such extensive and 
productive ranges ot commercial intercourse. 

W itii the highesurespect, 

1 am you i s, 

(Signed) B. H. LATROBE, 

Albert Gallatin, e^q. 

Secretary of the Treasury, 


April la*, 180S 


97 


POSTSCRIPT. 

ts the questions proposed to me by you, the subject 
of artifici d roads \v .s comprehended. But being in- 
formed by you that the canid companies of Pennsylvania 
and Maryland had transmitted to you ample accounts of 
their undertakings, and as in their works, experience 
h as t-.ugfvt a system and mode of execution, of the most 
perfect kind, l have refrained from adding any thing to 
the i formation tints acquired—It has however occur¬ 
red to me that a few remarks upon rail roads might not 
be unacceptable to you, especially as the public attention 
has been often called to this sort of improvement, and 
tiie public mind tilled with very imperfect conceptions 
of its utility. 

Raii roads may be constructed of iron, or of timber. 
The most durable (but also the most expensive) rail 
ro uls consists of cast iron rails let down on stone Inun¬ 
dations. Such roads will last for ages Cast iron rails 
secured on beds of timber £• re sufficiently durable for 
our country, and of moderate expense. Rail roads 
entirely of timber are fit only for temporary purposes. 

A rail road consists of two pah of parallel ways, one 
p tir for going, the other for returning carriages , sin¬ 
gle ro ids, with occasional passing places, are applicable 
to some situations, and are of course less expensive. I 
will concisely describe the road best adapted to tiie ob- 
j< 'ts that in o,ur country can be attained by it. The rails 
are of cast iron and consis of a t read a^d a fl inch, form¬ 
ing in their section the letter L. The tread is three 
inches wide the fl ic two inches high Toe rails need 
not ie mo ethan 5-8 of an inch average thickness, and 
they may ne cast in lengths of 5 to 6 feet. Each rail 
vnl . it six feet length, cont >in ?25 cubic inches, which 
*t four inches to tiie pound is 55 ib. each rail, or l cwt, 

xi 


98 


for every six feet in length of the road, to 44 ton per 

mile. 

In order to form a road of these rails, they must be 
laid at the distance of from three and a half to five feet 
(according to the carriage that is to run upon them) 
parallel to each other ; the ends of every two pair of 
rails being let and pinned down into a piece of timber 
lying across the roads. The holes for the pins must be 
cast in the rails. These pieces of timber may be of any 
form, provided they are level at the top, and they cannot 
be a great part of the expense c.f the road in any situa¬ 
tion The most durable timber is certainly the best: 
but no timber can be very durable in the situation it 
must occupy cn the surface, and partly or wholly cover¬ 
ed with earth. The perfection of the road consists in 
the parallel rails being laid perfectly level with each o- 
thcr across the road, and perfectly jointed. In most 
parts of the Union the rails could, I think, be delivered 
at from 80 to g 90 per ton, and in many at g 60 ; but ta¬ 
king g 80 as the average on the spot, the road will 


cost—. 

Hails delivered, 44 tons, at g 80, . . 3,620 

Levelling the road, very uncertain,but I will sup¬ 
pose as an average for levelling and filling in 
with good gravel or broken stone, g 2 50 per 
perch, or per mile, .... 800 

Timber and bedding at 50 per rail, . . 440 

Incidents and superintendance, . . . 140 


5,000 

For a set of returning ways, . . . 5 000 

Total per mile, . . . g iOOOO 

The carriages which travel on these roads may be of 
various dimensions, agreeably to the material to be con¬ 
veyed, and the necessary angle of the road. They have 
low cast iron wheels last upon the axle, which turns 
round. Thus, the two wheels on the axle make the 
same number of revolutions in the same space of time, 






99 


the carriage necessarily goes straight forward, and can** 
not be thrown off the ways by any small obstruction cn 
one side. 

The principle upon which such astonishing loads may 
be drawn on the wavs by a single horse, is the diminu¬ 
tion of friction in the greatest possible degree. On a 
good rail road, descending under an angle of only one 
degree, one horse may draw eight ions in four wagons 
of two tons each, without difficulty. The astonishing 
loads drawn upon rail roads by single horses in England 
has induced many of onr citizens to hope for their early 
application to the use of our country. I fear this hope 
is vain, excepting on a very small scale, and that chiefly 
in the coal country near Richmond. For it is evident 
that upon a rail road no other carriage but that which is 
expressly constiucted for the purpose cam be employed ; 
and that to render a rail road sufficiently saving of the 
expense of commons-carriage, to justify the cost of its 
erection, there must be a very great demand for its use. 
But the sort of produce which is carried to our markets 
is collected from such scattered points, and comes by 
such a diversity of routes, that rail roads are cm of the 
question as to the carriage of common articles. Rail 
roads leading from the coal mines to the margin ot 
James River, might answer their expense, or- others 
from the marble quarries near Philadelphia to the 
Schuylkill. But these are the only instances within my 
knowledge, in which they at present might be employ¬ 
ed. 

There is, however, a use for rail roads as a temporary 
means to overcome the most difficult parts of artificial 
navigation, and for this use they are invaluable, and in 
many instances offer the means of accomplishing dis¬ 
tant lines oF communication which might otherwise re¬ 
main impracticable, even to our national resowces for 
centuries to come. 


100 


Mr. Fulton’s Communication. 

[F] 

Sir, 

By your letter of the 29th of July I am happy to 
find that the attention of congress is directing itseif to¬ 
ward i the opening of communications through the Uni¬ 
ted States by means of roads and canals ; and it would 
give me particular pleasure to aid you with useful ir.for- 
m at ion on such works, as I have long been contempla¬ 
ting their importance in many points of view. 

But a year has not yetelap ed since i returned to \- 
merica, ai d rny private concerns h ve oecupu d so much 
of my time that as vet I have ucquiied but very lit¬ 
tle local information on the several canals which have 
been commenced 

Such information, however, is perhaps at present not 
the most important ranen of the subject, particularly 
as it can be obtained in a few months at a sindl ex pense, 
whenever the public mind suall be impressed with a 
sense of the vast advantages of a general system of cheap 
conveyance. 

I hope, indeed, that every intelligent American will, 
in a few years, be fully convinced of the necessity of such 
works to promote the n .tional wealth and his individual 
interest. Such conviction must arise from that habit of 
reflection which accompanies the republican principle, 
and points cut their true interest, on subjects or political 
economy. From such r< fl actions arise their love of 
agriculture and the useful arts, knowing them to aug¬ 
ment the riches and happiness of the nation ; hence al¬ 
so their dislike to standing armies and military navies 
as being the means of increasing the proportion of non¬ 
productive individuals whose labour is not only lost, but 
who must be supported out of the produce of the indus¬ 
trious inhabitants, and diminish their enjoyments. 


r 


101 


Such right thinking docs great honour to our nation, 
and leads forward to the highest possible state of civili¬ 
zation by directing the powers of man from useless 
-) and destructive occupations to pursuits which multiply 
the productions of useful labour and create abundance. 

Though such principles actuate our citizens, they 
are not yet in every instance aware of their best inter¬ 
ests, nor can it be expected that they should perceive at 
onc.e the advantages of those plans of improvement 
which are still new in this country. Hence the most 
useful works have sometimes been opposed ; and we 
are not without examples of men being elected into the 
State legislatures for the express purpose of preventing 
roads, canals, and bridges being constructed. But in 
such errors of judgment our countrymen have not been 
singular. When a bill was brought into the British par¬ 
liament 50 years ago, to establish turnpike roads 
throughout the kingdom, the inhabitants for forty miles 
round London, petitioned against such roads. Their 
arguments were, that goo:l roads would enable the far¬ 
mers of the interior country to bring their produce to 
the London market cheaper than they who lived near¬ 
er the city and paid higher rents—that the market 
would be overstocked, the prices diminished, and they 
unable to pay their rents or ootain a living. The good 
sense of parliament however prevailed—the roads were 
made, the population and commerce of London in¬ 
creased, the demand for produce increased, and he who 
lived nearest to London still had a superior advantage 
in the market. 

In like manner I hope the good sense of our legisla¬ 
ture will prevail over the ignorance and prejudice which 
may still exist against canals. And here an important 
question occurs which it may be proper to examine with 
some attention in this early stage of our public im¬ 
provements, whether, as a system, we should prefer ca¬ 
nals to turnpike roads ? Our habits are in favour of 
roads ; and few of us have conceived any better method 
of opening communications to the various parts of the 
States, But in China and Holland canals are more nu¬ 
ll 2 


102 


merous than roads ; in those countries the inhabitants 
are accustomed to see all their productions carried ei¬ 
ther on natural or artificial canals ; and they would be 
as much at a loss to know how we, as a civilized people, 
could do without such means of conveyance as we are 
surprised at their perseverance and ingenuity in making 
them.* England, France, and the principal stites of 
Europe, commenced their improvements with roads ; 
but as the science of the engineer improved and civili¬ 
zation advanced, canals were introduced, and England 
and France are now making every exertion to get the 
whole of their heavy productions water borne, for they 
have become sensible of the vast superiority of canals 
over roads. 

Our system perhaps ought to embrace them both—- 
canals for the long carriage of the whole materials of 
agriculture and manufactures, and roads for travelling 
and the more numerous communications of the coun¬ 
try. With these two modes in contemplation, when 
public money is to be expended with a view to the 
greatest good, we should now consider which object is 
entitled to our first attention. Shall we begin with ca¬ 
nals, which will carry the farmer’s produce cheap to 
market and return him merchandise at reduced prices ? 
or shall wc first mike roads to accommodate travellers 
and let the produce of our farms, mines and forests, la¬ 
bour under such heavy expenses that they cannot come 
to market ? 

♦ To throw some light on this interesting question. I 
will base my calculations on the Lancaster turnpike 
road. There the Lit* experiment has been made to 
penetrate from Philadelphia to the interior country, and 
the mode of calculation here given will serve for draw¬ 
ing comparisons on the utility of roads and c .nals for 
all the great leading communications of America. 

From Philadelphia to the Susquehannah, at Colum¬ 
bia is 74 miles. l hat read, if 1 am rightly informed, 


* The royal canal from Canton to Pekin is 8j5 miles longt, 
its breadth 50 feet, its depth 9 feet. 





103 


cost on an average 6,000 dollars a mile, or 444,000 do!» 
lars for the whole. On it, from Columbia to Philadel¬ 
phia, a barrel of flour, say 200 weight, pays one dollar 
carriage. A broad wheeled wagon carries 30 barrels or 
3 tons, and pays for turnpike 3 dollars. Thus for each 
ton carried, the turnpike company receives only one 
dollar. 

I will now suppose a canal to have been cut from 
Philadelphia to Columbia, and with its windings to make 
100 miles, at 15-000* dollars a mile, or for the whole, 
1,500 000 dollars. On such canal, one man, one boy, 
and horse, would convey 25 tons 20 miles a day,f on 
which the following would be the expenses : 


One m m, - - - - - $ 1 00 

One horse, - - - - 1 00 

One boy, - - - - 0 50 

Tolls for repairing the canal, - - 1 00 

Tolls for passing locks, inclined planes, 

tunnels, and aqueducts, - 1 00 

Interest on the wear of tne boat, - 0 50 


Total, S 5 00 


This is equal to 20 cents a ton for 20 miles, and no 
mo e than one dollar a ton for 100 miles, instead of 10 
dollars paid by tne road. Consequently, for each ton 
carried from Columbia to Philadelphia, on the canal, 
the company might take a toll of dx dollars instead of 
one, widen is now got by the road ; and then the flour 
would arrive at Philadelphia for 7 dollars a ton, instead 
ot ten, which it now pays. The merchandise would al¬ 
so arrive at Columbia from Philadelphia, for 3 dollars a 


* On averaging the canals of America, 15,000 dollars a mile 
will be abundantly sufficient to construct them in the best 
manner, particularly if made on the inclined-plane principle, 
with small boats, each carrying 6 tons. 

•f One horse will draw on a canal from 25 to 50 tons, 20 miles 
in one day. I have stated the least they ever do, and the 
highest rate of charges, that no deception may enter into these 
calculations. 






104 


ten less than is now paid, which cheap carriage both 
ways would not only benefit the farmer and merchant, 
but would draw more commerce on the canal than now 
moves on the road, and thereby add to the profits of the 
company. 

But to proceed with my calculations, I will suppose 
that exactly the same number of tons would move on 
the canal that are now transported by the road. Again, 
let it be supposed that at one dollar a ton the turnpike 
company gains five per cent, per annum on their, capi¬ 
tal of 444 000 dollars, or 22,200 dollars, consequently 
22,200 tons must be carried, which at six dollars a ton 
to the canal company would have given 133,200 dollars 
a year, or eight and a half per cent, for their capital of 
J,500000 dollars. 

The reason of this vast difference in the expense of 
carriage by roads or canals will be obvious to any one 
who will take the trouble to reflect, that on a road of 
the best kind four horses, and sometimes five, are ne¬ 
cessary to transport only three tons. On a canal one 
horse will draw 25 tons, and thus perform the work of 
40 horses ; the saving, therefore, is in the v due of the 
horses, their feeding, shoeing, geer, wagons, and at¬ 
tendance. These facts should induce companies to con¬ 
sider well their interest when contemplating an enter¬ 
prise of this sort ; and what would be their profits not 
only in interest for their capital, but the benefit which 
their lands would receive by the cheap carriage of-ma¬ 
nure and of their productions. 

In considering the profits to accrue to a company 
from a canal instead of roads there is another important 
calculation to be made, and for that purpose I will pro¬ 
ceed with the Lancaster Turnpike : supposing it to ex¬ 
tend to Pittsburgh, 320 miles, on which, the carriage 
being at the rate now paid from Columbia to Philadel¬ 
phia, (that is, 10 dollars a ton for 74 miles,) the ton 
from Pittsburgh would amount to 42 dollars ; at which 
price a barrel of flour would cost four dollars ; n car¬ 
riage, an expense which excludes it from market. 
Thus grain, the most important and abundant produc- 


105 


tion of our interior country, and which should give 
vigour to our manufactures, is shut up in the ciiairicts 
most favourable to its culture ; or t< reri , er i' portable 
and convert it into cash, it must be distilled, to brut 'ize 
and poison society. In like manner all he ivy articles 
of little moneyed value can only move within thenar- 
row li nits of 100 miles ; but were a t mu I made the 
whole distance, and by one or more companies they 
might arrange the tolls in the fallowing manner, so as 
to favour the long carriage Cl heavy articles : 

The expense of man, n y, and horse, av before stated, 
would cost only three dollars to b 'at one ton ol fl ue 
300 miles. This is 30 cents a barrel ; suppose then 
that the company receive 1 70 cents a barrel, or seven 
dollars a ton, flour could then come from Pitrsburgn to 
Philadelphia for one dollar, a barrel, the sum which is 
now paid from Columbia ; thus the c nal company 
would gain seven dollars a ton by a trade which could 
never move through a road of equal length. Here we 
see that on canals the tolls may be arranged so as to 
draw to them articles of little moneyed va tie ; and it 
would be the interest of the company or companies to 
make such regulations. But on turnpike roads bo such 
accommodation of charges in proportion to distance 
can be effected, because of the number of horses which 
cannot be dispensed with.* Even were the roads made 
at the public expense and toll f ee, still the carnage of 
one ton fo; 300 miles would cost at least 35 dollars. 
But were canals made at. the public expense, and no 
other toll demanded than should be sufficient to keep 
them in repair, a ton in boating and tolls would only 
cost three dollars for 300 miles ; and for 35 dollars, the 
sum which must be paid to can y one ton 300 miles on 
the best of roads, it could be boated three thousand Jive 



* In my work on small canals, published in 1796. page 140 ? 
there is a table showing a mode of regulating the boaung and 
tonnage, in such a maimer that a ton may be transported one 
thousand three hundred miles for five dollars ; yet by this me¬ 
thod canal companies would gain more toll than by any other 
means yet practised. 






106 


hundred miles , and draw resources from the centre of 
this vast continent. 

But striking as this comparison is, I will still extend 
it. The merchandise which can bear the expense of 
carriage on our present roads to Pittsburgh, Kentucky, 
Tennessee, or any other distance of 300 miles, and 
which, for that distance, pays 100 dollars a ton, could be 
boated on canals ten thousand miles for that sum. 

As these calculations are founded on facts which will 
not be denied by any one acquainted with the advanta¬ 
ges of canals, it is the interest of every man of landed 
property, and particularly of the farmers of the back 
countries, that canals should be immediately construct¬ 
ed, and rendered as numerous as the funds of the nation 
will permit, and the present population requires ; and 
as inhabitants multiply most towards the interior, and 
must extend westward, still moving more distant from 
the sea-coast and the market foqtheir produce, it is good 
policy, and right that canals should follow them. In 
25 years our population wiil amount to 14 millions j 
two thirds of whom will spread over the western coun¬ 
tries. Suppose then that 3,5^0 0C0 dollars were annu¬ 
ally appropriated to canals, such a sum would pay for 
300 miles of canal each year, and in 20 years we should 
have 6.000 miles circulating through and penetrating 
into the interior of the different States ; such sums, 
though seemingly large, and such works, though appa¬ 
rently stupendous, are not more than sufficient to keep 
pace with the rapid increase of our population, to open 
a market and carry to every district such foreign articles 
as we near the coast enjoy. With this view of the sub¬ 
ject, arises a political question of the utmost magnitude 
to these States—which is : 

That as our national debt diminishes, and the treasury 
increases in surpluss revenue, will it not be the best in¬ 
terest of the people to continue the present duties on 
imports, and expend the products in national improve¬ 
ments ? 

To illustrate this question, I will state some exam¬ 
ples of the rate of duties and the expense of carriage to 


1 


107 


prove that by keeping on the duties, and making canals 
with the revenue, goods,in a great number of instances, 
will be cheaper to the consumer, than by taking off the 
duties, and leaving the transport to roads. 

First Example. 

Brown sugar pays in duty 2 1*2 cents a pound, or for 
100 pounds, - - - - - g2 50 

It pays lor wagoning 300 miles, - - 5 00 

Total, g7 50 


By the canal it would cost in boating 15 cents for 300 
mites, consequently the boating and duty would amount 
to $2 65, therefore by keeping on the duty, and making 
the canals, sugar would arrive at the interior, 300 miles, 
for $2 %5 the hundred weight cheaper than if Me duties 
were taken oifand the transport left to roads. 

Second Example . 

One bushel of salt, weighing 56 pounds, paid in du¬ 
ty, ------ go 20 

To carry it 300 miles, by roads, the expense 

is, ------ 2 50 

Total, g2 70 


By the canal it would cost for boating 300 miles, 7 1 -2 
cents. By keeping on the duties and making the ca¬ 
nals, it would arrive to the interior consumer g2 32 1-2 
cents the bushel cheaper than weie the duties taken off 
and the transport left to roads. 

Third Example. 

Molasses pays 5 cents a gallon duty ; this is for 100 
pounds, . . . . . g 0 75 

It pa/s for wagoning 300 miles, . 5 00 

Total, g 5 75 








108 


By the canal the carriage would cost 15 cents, and 
it would arrive at the interior at S 4 10 cents the h'un- 
d* vd weight or 27 cents a gallon cheaper than were the 
duii s taken off and the transport left to roads. 

Numerous other articles might be stated to show that 
the i . a I inode of rendering them cheap to the interior 
consumer, is to keep <>n the duties and facilitate the car¬ 
riage with the funds so raised. These however may be 
considered as p a tial benefits, and not sufficiently gene¬ 
ral to warrant keeping on the duties. But there is a 
point of view in which I hope it will appear that the ad- 
\i ntages *re geneiai, and will be felt throughout every 
part o i ne States. It i« by reducing the expense of all 
kinds of cat ridge, and thus economize to each individual 
more than he now pays in duty on the foreign articles 
he consumes. * 

For Example . 

Wood for fuel is an article ot the first necessity. It 
cannot bear the expense of transport 20 miles on roads. 
Ar that distance it is shut out from the market, and the 
price of fuel is consequently raised to the amount of the 
carnage. Were a cord of wood carried 20 miles on 
roads, it would pay ior wagoning at least 3 dollars >n 
a can 1 it would p.q 20 cents. Thus on only one cold 
of wot d there is an economy of S 2 80 cents. \\ iiich 
economy would pay the duty 
On 14 ibs of tea, at 20 cents the lb duty, or 
140 lbs. of sugar, at 2 cents the lb duty, or 
5 6 lbs. of coffee, at 5 cents the lb duty, or 
14 bushels of salt, at 20 els the bushel duty, or 
56 gallons of molasses, at 5 cents the gallon duty. 

I wili now suppose a city of 50 000 inhabitants, w bo, 
for their nousci old and other uses, will consume 50 000 
coids j year, ( ,n which there would be an econom\ of 
S 140 000, a sum in all probability equal to the duties 
p id i>y me inhabitants ; ior the duties divided on the 
whole of the American people are but $2 28 cents to 
ear- iudhidu 1 Here I have estimated each person to 
puy £> 2 80 cents, yet this estimate is made on one cord 


it 

of wood to each inhabitant of a city. Were I to calcu¬ 
late the economy on the carriage.of building timber, 
lime, st»nd, bricks, stone, iron, flour, corn, provisions, 
and materials ol all kinds which enter or go out of a ci¬ 
ty, it would be five times this sum ; and thus the towns 
and cities are to be bene fitted. The farmer or miller 
who lives 20 miles from a market, pays at least 22 cents 
to wagon a barrel of flour that distance. By the canal 
it would cost two cents : the economy would be 20 els.; 
at 100 miles the economy would be 100 cents, and at 
150 miles it would be 150 cents. Beyond this distance 
flour cannot come to market by roads, yet at this distance 
the economy of 1$Q cents in the carriage of one.barrel oi 
flour would pay the duty on 
7 I-2 pounds of tea ; 
or 75 pounds of sugar ; 
or 30 pounds of coffee ; 
or 7 1-2 bushels of salt; 
or 30 gallons of molasses. 

Thus it is that the benefits arising fiom a good sys¬ 
tem of canals are general and mutual. Therefore should 
peace, and the reduction of the national debt, give an 
overflowing treasury, I hope you, and the majority of 
Americans, will think with me, that the duties should 
net be taken off nor diminished ; for such an act, instead 
of relieving the people, would r eally oppress them, by 
destroying the means of reducing the expense of trans¬ 
ports, and of opening to them a cheap mode of arriving 
at good markets. 

To proceed with these demonstrations, let us look at 
the rich productions of our interior country : 

Wheat, flour, oats, barley, beans, grain, and pulse of 
every description ; 

Cider, apples, and fruits of all kinds ; 

Salt, salted beef, pork, and other meats ;* 


* Animals are now driven to market 300 or more miles at a 
considerable expense and loss of flesh, for two principal rea¬ 
sons ■, first, the expense of transporting the salt to the interior, 
and second, the expense pi carrying the salted meats to mar¬ 
ket. 







no 


Hides, tallow, becs-wax; 

Cast and forged iron ; 

Pot and pearl ashes, tanner's bark ; 

Tar, pitch, rosira, and turpentine ; 

Hemp, flax, and wool ; 

Plaster of Paris, so necessary to our agriculture ; 

Coals and potter's earth for our manufactures; 

Marble, lime, and timber for our buildings. 

All of these articles are of the first necessity, but few 
of them can bear the expense of 5 dollars the hundred 
weight to be transported 300 miles on roads. Yet on 
canals they would cost, in boating, only 15 cents the 100 
weight for that distance. 

There is another great advantage to individuals and 
the nation arising from canals, which roads can never 
give. It is that when a canal runs through a long line 
of mountainous country, such as the greater part of the 
interior of America, all the grounds below, for half a 
mile or more, may be watered and converted into mea¬ 
dow and other profitable culture. How much these 
conveniences of irrigation will add to the produce of 
agriculture, and the beauties of nature, I leave to expe¬ 
rienced farmers and agricultural societies to calculate. 

In Italy and Spain it is the practice to sell water out 
of the canals, for watering meadows and other lands. In 
such cases tubes are put into the canal, under the pres¬ 
sure of a certain head of water, and suffered to run a gi¬ 
ven time for a fixed price ; the moneys thus gained ad¬ 
ded much to the emoluments of the canal companies. 

But with all these immense advantages which canals 
give, it may be a question with many individuals, whe¬ 
ther they can be constructed in great leading lines from 
our sea-coast and navigable rivers to the frontiers of the 
several states, or pass our mountains and penetrate to 
the remotest parts of our interior country. Should 
doubts arise on this part of the plan, I beg leave to as¬ 
sure you, that there is no difficuly in carrying canals o- 
ver our highest mountains, and even where nature has 
denier us water. For water is always to be found in 
the valleys: and the canal ran be constructed to the foot 

V * 


Ill 


of the mountain, carrying the water to that situation.— 
Should there be no water on the mountain or its sides, 
there will be wood or coals ; either or both of which 
can be brought cheap to the works by means of the. ca¬ 
nal. Then with steam engines the upper ponds of ca¬ 
nal can be filled from the lower levels, and with the en¬ 
gines the boats can, on inclined planes, be drawn from 
the lower to the upper canal. For tins mode of opera¬ 
ting it is necessary to have small boats of six tons each. 
As the steam engines are to draw up and let down the 
boats on inclined planes, no water is drawn from the up¬ 
per level of canal, as when locks are used. Consequent¬ 
ly, when the upper ponds have been once filled, it 
is only necessary that the engine should supply leakage 
and evaporation. There is another mode of supplying 
the leakage and evaporation of the higher levels : On 
the tops and sides of mountains there are hollows or ra¬ 
vines which can be banked at the lower extremity, thus 
forming a reservoir to catch the rain or melted snow.— 
From such reservoirs the ponds of canal can be replen¬ 
ished in the dry months of summer. This mode of re¬ 
serving water is in practice in England for canals, and 
in Spain for irrigation. In this manner I will suppose 
it necessary to pass a mountain 800 feet high ; then four 
inclined planes, each of 200 feet rise, would gain the 
summit, and four would descend on the other side—to¬ 
tal, 8 inclined planes,and 8 steam engines. Each steam 
engine of 12 horse power would cost about ten thousand 
dollars, in all 80,000 dollars ; each would burn about 
12 bushels of coal in 12 hours, or 96 bushels for the 8 
engines for one day’s work. 

The coals in such situations may be estimated at 12 cts. 

a bushel, oik.g 11 52 

At each engine and inclined plane there must 

be 5 men—total, 40 men, at one dollar each, 40 00 


Total, 8,51 52 


For this sum they could pass 500 tons in one day over 




t 1 


the 8 inclined planes, which for each ton is only 

. 10 cents. 

Suppose the mountain to he 20 miles 
wide, boating for each ton would cost 20 


Total, 30 cents 

a ton for passing over the mountain, which will be more 
or less, according to circumstances. These calcula¬ 
tions being only intended to.remove any doubts which 
may arise on the practicability of passing our moun¬ 
tains. 

Having thus in some degree considered the advan¬ 
tages which canals will produce in point of wealth to in¬ 
dividuals and the nation, I wili-now consider their im¬ 
portance to the Union, and their political consequences. 

First, their effect on raising me value of the pub¬ 
lic lauds, and thereby augmenting the revenue. 

In all cases where canals shall pass through the lands 
of the United Stales, and open a cheap communication 
to a good market, such lands will; rise in value for 20 
miles on each side of the canal. The farmer who will 
reside 20 miles from the canal can in one day carry a 
load cf produce to its bbrders ; and where he lands 600 
miles from one of our seaport towns his barrel of flour, 
in Weight 200 lb., ’Could be carried that distance for GO 
cents, the price which is now paid to carry a barrel 50 
miles on the Lancaster turnpike. Consequently, us re¬ 
lates to cheapness of carriage and easy access to mar¬ 
ket, the new lands which Sic 600 miles from the sea¬ 
ports would be of equal value with lands of equal fer¬ 
tility which are 50 miles from the sea-ports.- But not 
to Insist on their being of so great a value until popula¬ 
tion is as great, it is evident thatthey must rise in valv:e 
in a three or four fold degree. Every lineal mile of ca¬ 
nal would accommodate 25.600 acres. The land sold 
by the United States in 1806. averaged about 2 dollars 
an acre, and certainly every acre accommodated with a 
canal would produce G dollars; thus only 20 miles of 
canal each year running through national lands would 
raise the value of 513,000 acres at least 4 dollars an 



113 


acre, giving 2 5 048 ,OGO dollars to the treasury ; a sum 
sufficient to make 136 miles of canal. Had an indivi¬ 
sual such a property and funds to construct canals to 
its centre, he certainly would do it for his own interest. 
The nation has the property, and the nation possesses 
ample funds for such undertakings. 

Secondly, cn their effect in cementing the Union and 
extending the principles of confederated republican go¬ 
vernment. Numerous have been the speculations on 
the duration of our Union, and intrigues have been 
practised to sever the western from the eastern States. 
The opinion endeavoured to be inculcated was that the 
inhabitants behind the mountains were cut off from the 
market of the Atlantic States ; that consequently they 
had a separate interest, and should use their resources 
to open a communication to a market of their own ; 
that remote from the seat of government, they could 
not enjoy their portion of advantages arising from the 
Union, and that sooner or later they must separate and 
govern for themselves. 

Others, by drawing their examples from European 
governments, and the monarchies which have grown 
out of the feudal habits of nations of warriors, whose 
minds were bent to the absolute power of the few, and 
the servile obedience of the many, have conceived these 
States of too great an extent to continue united under 
a republican form of government, and that the time is 
not distant when they will divide into little kingdo ms, 
retrograding from common sense to ignorance, adopt¬ 
ing all the follies and barbarities which are every dav 
practised in the kingdoms and petty states of Europe'. 
But those who have reasoned in this way have not re¬ 
flected that men are the creatures of habit, and that 
their habits as well as their interests majr be so com¬ 
bined as to make it impossible to separate them without 
falling back into a state of barbarism. Although, in 
ancient times, some specks of civilization have been ef¬ 
faced by hordes of uncultivated men, yet it is remark¬ 
able that since the indention of printing and the gener¬ 
al diffusion of knowledge no nation has retrograued in 


114 


science or improvements; nor is it reasonable to sup¬ 
pose that the Americans, who have as much if not more 
information in general than any other people, will ever 
abandon an advantage which they have once gained. 
England, which at one tin. 4 ' Was seven petty kingdoms, 
has by habit, long been unued into one. Scotland, by 
succession, became united to England, and is now bound 
to her by habit, by turnpike roads, canals, and reciprocal 
interests. In like manner all the counties of England, 
or departments of France, are bound to each other; and 
when the United States shall be bound together by ca¬ 
nals, by cheap and easy access to market in all direc¬ 
tions, by a sense of mutual interests arising from mu¬ 
tual intercourse and mingled commerce, it will be no 
more possible to split them into independent and sepa¬ 
rate governments, each lining its frontiers with fortifi¬ 
cations and troops, to shackle their own exports and 
imports to and from the neighboring States, than it is 
now possible for the government of England to divide 
and form again into seven kingdoms. 

But it is necessaYy to bind the States together by the 
people’s interests, one of which is to enable every man 
to sell the produce of his labor at the best market and 
purchase at fne cheapest. Th?s accords with the idea 
of Hume, “ That '.he governmentof a wise people would 
be little more than a system of civil police; for the best 
interest of man is industry, and a free exchange of the 
produce of his labor for the things which he may re¬ 
quire.” 

On this humane principle, what stronger bonds of u- 
nion can be invented than those which enable each indi¬ 
vidual to transport the produce of his industry 1,200 
miles for 60 cents the hundred weight ? Here then is a 
certain method of securing the union of the States, and 
of rendering it as lasting as the continent we inhabit. 

It is now eleven years that I have had this plan in 
contemplation for the good of our country. At the con¬ 
clusion of my work on small canals there is a letter to 
Thomas Mifflin, then governor of the State of Pennsyl¬ 
vania, on a system of canals for America. In it I con- 


115 


tfcmplated the time when 11 canals should fiass through 
every vale , wind round each hill , and bind the whole coun¬ 
try together in the bonds of social intercourse ;* and I 
am now happy to find, that, through the good manage¬ 
ment of a wise administration, a period has arrived when 
an overflowing treasury exhibits abundant resoutcesand 
points the mind to works of such immense importance. 
Hoping speedilyto see them become favorite objects 
with the whole American people. 

I have the honor to be, 

Your most obedient, 

ROB’T^FULTONe 

To Albert Gallatin> Esq, 

Secretary of the Treasury . 

Washington, December the 8th, 1807. 


























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